Alternative Spring Break

Get Out & Give Back on an immersive service-learning trip! (ON HOLD)

*This program is on-hold for the 2023 year. Check back later!*

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a multi-day, immersive service and education opportunity run by students at PSU that brings together a diverse group of people with the common goal of service and education.

Our mission is to promote critical thinking, social action, continued community involvement, and civic engagement in the global community. As a short term goal, ASB hopes to provide important direct, physical service to a community in need. As a long-term goal, ASB hopes to instill a lifetime commitment of active and engaged citizenship while inspiring future service leaders in Oregon. Thanks again for your interest. We can’t wait to work with you!

I learned so much from the trip, as well as the reflections of everybody in the group. It has taught me valuable lessons that I will continue to carry on in my lifetime, and has encouraged me to get involved in the community to seek solutions and change.

Participant Benefits

Unique opportunity to connect with community-engaged students from across PSU campus while working to fulfill the needs of multiple community partners.
Engaged learning and discussion about current issues that are important to you in a hands-in, immersive setting while exploring the role you can play to make a difference.
Trip fee* and additional fundraising will cover the cost of transportation, meals, and (depending on location) accommodation for the duration of the trip.

Check out last year's 2022 trips below!

Trip #1: Focus on Houselessness in the Greater Portland Area

During this local experience, we will dive into the issue of housing and food insecurity in our own city and beyond. Homelessness in the United States has increased for the fourth consecutive year, and is projected to increase 49% nationally in just the next four years. In the Portland Metro Area alone, 38,000 people experienced homelessness in a single pre-pandemic year, and the pandemic has only intensified housing insecurity.

Through pre-trip orientation meetings and hands-on service projects with various non-profits in the Greater Portland area like Blanchet House, JOIN, and others, we’ll learn more about housing and food insecurity in our area, and how local nonprofits are making steps to combat these issues. With the experience and education gained from this trip, we will be coming back together for two post-trip meetings to develop an action plan to utilize the skills we have gained to serve our community further.

Trip #2: Focus on Local Food Systems & Food Justice in the Greater Portland Area

In this trip, we will root ourselves in the Portland food system, and explore the ways that small-scale farms, cooperatives, and gardens are acting to remedy the issues of food injustice and food insecurity close to home. Food insecurity, defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food, is a pervasive issue within the PSU Campus Community. A full 55.4% of PSU students have experienced food insecurity since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic -- and BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled students experience higher rates of food insecurity. In this way and many others, food is politicized.

Through pre-trip orientation meetings and hands-on service projects with various farms, community gardens, and agricultural cooperatives in the Greater Portland and Willamette Valley area focusing on small-scale food systems solutions, we will learn more about our local food system here in Portland, and how local people are taking action to address these insecurities. The immersion will explore food systems and themes of food as community, food security, and the future of food sovereignty. Join us for four days of service, connection, and learning about food justice in Oregon, and reconsider your role in our food system.

Examples of Past Alternative Spring Break Trips

Our office typically hosts two Alternative Spring Break trips each year. Locations & issue areas have included:

San Francisco, CA: Focus on Hunger, Houselessness, & Social Equity
Portland, OR: Focus on Social Isolation
Camp Campbell, Santa Cruz County, CA: Focus on the Environment & Youth Outdoor Education
Sequoia National Park, CA: Focus on Conservation & Environmental Justice
Portland, OR: Focus on Food Security
Oregon Coast, OR: Focus on Social Issues in Coastal Communities
Tacoma, WA: Focus on Affordable Housing
Virtual: Immigration and Migrant Justice at the American Borderlands

Student voices: Why ASB?

2019 SF ASB trip montage