Not the typical spring break
Wake Forest students spend the week helping others through service programs
Lexi McBride and Matthew King
Instead of the usual spring break trip to the beach, sophomore Matthew King and junior Lexi McBride are leading a group of students to El Salvador to work in a dental clinic this week.
Most of the 17 students on the trip, which is sponsored by the Christian Medical Dental Association, an undergraduate student organization, are premed students or Spanish majors or minors. Before they left, the group raised money to furnish the dental clinic and to buy toys and clothing to share with children visiting the clinic.
"When you're at Wake Forest, it's easy to get caught up in studies and extracurricular activities," says King, who is from Nashville, Tenn. "The service trip week is a chance to work with people who really want to be together because of a common interest."
The students volunteering in El Salvador are among about 100 undergraduates participating in service trips this spring break.
Other students are volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Tampa, Fla.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Beaufort, S.C.; and Franklin, W.Va. Students also are helping clean up Camp Sequanota in Jennerstown, Pa.; volunteering in an after-school tutoring program in Atlanta with Essentials2Life; and assisting the hungry and homeless at the D.C. Central Kitchen in Washington. Student groups are also offering service in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Texas and Mexico, and the Bahamas.
Another group is volunteering at Casa Central in Chicago, one of the largest Hispanic service agencies in the nation. They will be tutoring children as part of an after-school program.
"We hope to be able to impact the community and individuals in a special way during this week-long experience," said sophomore Vincent Ganzon, who is leading that trip. "And we'll be living out Wake Forest's Pro Humanitate motto by spending spring break helping others."
