As we send this year’s group of Alternative Spring Breakers off on their service learning trips, we thought we’d take the time to spotlight one of the wonderful people who donated to ASB.  Kirsten Brinlee, program manager for the Baltimore Collegetown Network and friend of UMBC, tells us about how she decided to give, and why the cause is so close to her heart. 

What is your relationship to UMBC, and how did you become involved with us?

When I first moved to Maryland in 2012, I was working for Johns Hopkins University in service-learning, and one of my job responsibilities was to serve on the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement conference. In 2013, UMBC served as the host institution. I would attend planning meetings and many of my first colleagues and friends were from the staff at UMBC. In 2014, I made the transition to my current role as Program Manager at Baltimore Collegetown Network, where I collaborate with 14 institutions, including UMBC.

Can you share a favorite memory from your time here?

Being a member of the 2013 Service-Learning and Civic Engagement conference is one of my top memories at UMBC. I remember being so impressed by the passion and values-focused keynote address given by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski.

What made you decide to give to Alternative Spring Break, specifically?

My first exposure to Alternative Spring Break was when I worked at the University of North Texas’ Center for Leadership and Service. I had never experienced ASBs at my undergraduate institution, but in my work at UNT, our office managed all of the ASBs for the university. I went on my first ASB to St. Louis and we worked with youth. It was one of my most memorable experiences from UNT. When I moved to Baltimore, I was attracted to my position at JHU because it included ASB management. What I loved about JHU’s program was that they were all locally focused. It helped me learn about my community and realize that meaningful service doesn’t have to take place far away from your own community, and in fact it’s more sustainable and impactful to work with your own community.

For this specific ask, one of my Collegetown LeaderShape students reached out to let me know she was participating in an ASB program at UMBC. Collegetown LeaderShape asks students to identify their passions, create a vision, and impact their communities. An ASB is a direct way for students to get involved in service and their community and I want to support those initiatives.

How do you hope your support will impact students?

I hope that my support demonstrates how I continue to live my own values around service and meaningfully engaging with the community.

Why do you think it’s important to give back?

It’s important to give back because it was other people’s generosity and kindness that created opportunities for me. I want to be able to pay forward the experiences I’ve been able to have for another generation.

As we wrap up our spotlight on Alternative Spring Break, we’d like to talk about another trip that impacts our Maryland community. The ARC of Carroll County serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout their local area, providing resources for employment, education, transportation, and community living.

On this ASB trip, students will have the chance to work directly with the people the ARC supports, building bonds and breaking down stereotypes about disability. Your gift will  go towards supplies, food, lodging, and transportation for 12 students who are bound to remember this trip for the rest of their lives.

To donate to the ARC ASB trip, click here. To hear from the student leaders themselves, click the video below:

This week, we’ve been focusing on UMBC’s Alternative Spring Break trips, which give students the chance to go out into the world, make a difference, and learn more about issues affecting society on their week off in March. Today, we’re shining a light on the Public Health trip.

Through this service-learning opportunity, students will learn about the Maryland through hands-on service projects in free clinics and health-focused nonprofit organizations throughout the city of Baltimore. This year’s trip, in particular, will focus on the issues of childhood obesity and food deserts in Baltimore.

As with the other trips we’ve featured this week, any financial contribution you might make is much appreciated, and will help cover the cost of supplies, lodging, food and transportation for 12 students. To give, head here. To hear straight from this year’s trip leaders about the positive impact of the Public Health trip, give this video a watch:

Here on the giving blog, we’ve been giving you an look at UMBC’s Alternative Spring Break programs, which give students a chance to participate in a service learning project over the March holiday. This next trip takes students right into the city of Baltimore, where, over the course of one year, at least 30,000 people will experience homelessness at one point.

Over their spring break, students will work on various projects throughout the city, and learn about how its homelessness problem intersects with poverty, crime, and other issues facing Baltimore. Your gift will go towards supplies, lodging, food, and transportation for 12 UMBC students.

To give to the Homelessness ASB trip, head to GiveCorps. To learn more about the trip from this year’s student co-leaders, take a look at this video:

As we near the end of the calendar year, we’d like to remind our community of the many places their gifts might go this holiday season. This week, we’ll be focusing on next year’s Alternative Spring Break trips. These provide a wonderful opportunity for students to spend their week off doing good for the communities and gaining a new understanding of the world.

One of these trips will take students to Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute. They’ll interact with patients, help maintain the grounds, and learn about Adams’ humanistic model of health care and the Institute’s approach to social justice. In past years on this trip, students have visited veterans’ hospitals and retirement homes in the area, tended to organic gardens, and kept the Institute’s rural West Virginia campus clean and bright.

Your donation will go towards the cost of supplies, lodging, food, and transportation for 12 students over the upcoming spring break. To give to the Gesundheit! trip, head to the GiveCorps site. For more from the students themselves, take a look at this video!

Here at UMBC, we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring; spring means mild temperatures, longer afternoons, outdoorsy fun, and, of course, spring break.

For most, this much needed respite from school is chance to take a mini-vacation, but for our amazing students, spring break is an opportunity to give back to the community through week-long service engagement trips. This year UMBC is offering four different Alternative Spring Break trips, and they all could use your support.

Please consider funding these wonderful opportunities.

Homelessness (led by students Markya Reed and Megan Lynch): Participants in this ASB trip will learn about the experience and challenges of homelessness, and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Participants will work with local organizations and people in Baltimore experiencing homelessness.

Click here to donate.

Public Health (led by students Poulomi Banerjee and Monsuru ‘Neyo’ Adekoya): Working with free clinics and other health-focused nonprofit organizations, participants will learn about the state of health care in Maryland, social factors that can affect health, and populations that suffer from health disparities. Through reflection and conversation, the participants will consider approaches to making positive change in this area.

Click here to donate.

Intellectual and Physical Disabilities/ARC (led by student Simin Hossain): Participants will spend time each day at the ARC of Carroll County (which serves people with intellectual and physical disabilities), developing relationships with clients, learning about the population, and dispelling stereotypes and stigma.

Click here to donate.

Alternative Healthcare /Gesundheit! Institute (led by students Tina Nassehi and Lisa Dang): During spring break, students will interact with patients as they learn about the Patch Adams’ medical model–the belief that laughter, joy, and creativity are an integral part of the healing process. Students will also study the Institute’s approach to social justice and lend a hand in maintaining the sprawling 300-acre campus.

Click here to donate.

The Thanksgiving leftovers have dwindled away and many of us have put a significant dent in our holiday shopping lists, having bustled through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Three years ago, Giving Tuesday was established to encourage us to to break away from the consumerism and chaos that has swallowed up our holiday season and return to a spirit of giving.

This year, there are a number of great causes to consider at UMBC for Giving Tuesday. Your commitment truly is a gift that will keep on giving, and our communities will benefit from the great work of the students this spring.

Support UMBC Students on #GivingTuesday!

The Thanksgiving leftovers have dwindled away and many of us have put a significant dent in our holiday shopping lists, having bustled through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Three years ago, Giving Tuesday was established to encourage us to to break away from the consumerism and chaos that has swallowed up our holiday season and return to a spirit of giving.

This year, there are a number of great causes to consider at UMBC for Giving Tuesday. Your commitment truly is a gift that will keep on giving, and our communities will benefit from the great work of the students this spring.

Support UMBC Students on #GivingTuesday!

UMBC students understand the importance of charitable engagement and giving back: they know that making a difference in the lives of others is what makes the world go around. That’s why we’re celebrating our students and our community on National Philanthropy Day. This special day is a unique opportunity to acknowledge the importance of giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement to our society and our world.

So, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, UMBC is proud to highlight three student initiatives that are lending a helping hand:

Making connections, building friendship.

Students will spend the week at the ARC of Carroll County, where they’ll get to know and offer support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more and support this project.

Examining the stigma, lending a hand.

Students will make a difference right here in Baltimore as they learn about the experiences and challenges of homelessness and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Learn more and support this project.

Clowning around to change lives.

UMBC students explore alternative healthcare and interact with patients to bring laughter, joy, and creativity as an integral part of the healing process. Learn more and support the project.

 Celebrate National Philanthropy Day and support a student project! 

UMBC students understand the importance of charitable engagement and giving back: they know that making a difference in the lives of others is what makes the world go around. That’s why we’re celebrating our students and our community on National Philanthropy Day. This special day is a unique opportunity to acknowledge the importance of giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement to our society and our world.

So, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, UMBC is proud to highlight three student initiatives that are lending a helping hand:

Making connections, building friendship.

Students will spend the week at the ARC of Carroll County, where they’ll get to know and offer support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more and support this project.

Examining the stigma, lending a hand.

Students will make a difference right here in Baltimore as they learn about the experiences and challenges of homelessness and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Learn more and support this project.

Clowning around to change lives.

UMBC students explore alternative healthcare and interact with patients to bring laughter, joy, and creativity as an integral part of the healing process. Learn more and support the project.

 Celebrate National Philanthropy Day and support a student project!