WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 11
Alternative Break conference comes to KU, helps community
By Todd Smith Kansan staff writer
Volunteers from across the country are helping to build a gift shop for the Pélathé Youth Entrepreneurial Program.
Ryan Cox, Florida State senior, said the gift shop would help a lot of young people better their lives by teaching them how to run a business and manage money.
"We may not be as involved with the Native American community." Cox said. "We do feel that we are touching it and helping promote positive things in the community."
"It was a huge hurdle for us. We have no manpower or money," Hicks said.
Caroline Hicks, project director of the Pélathé Youth Entrepreneurial Program, said without the Alternative Break students help, the gift shop would not have been built.
She also said that the program was important to the Pelathé youth because they got to manage the store, decided on what was sold in the shop and the hours they wanted to keep it open.
She said the program was designed to teach kids how to run a successful business. She said it gave the kids more control and experience than working in a fast food restaurant.
The Alternative Break program takes college and high school student volunteers and puts them in community service projects during the spring, summer, fall or winter breaks. The students learn about literacy, poverty, racism, hunger and the environment.
Dan McCabe, executive director of Break Away: The Alternative Break Connection Inc., said 35 students from 17 universities nationwide had come to Lawrence to do volunteer work. It was part of the training for the 2002 Alternative Break Citizenship Schools conference at the University of Kansas from June 22 to 28.
The board of directors of Break Away chose KU based on the commitment of the University and its Alternative Break program. McCabe said the KU housing department helped out by providing places for participants to stay and the University provided space for the workshops.
Mccabe said the KU Alternative Break program had been committed to being one of the best in the country.
The KU program had 200 participants annually and 39 trips, he said.
"The Alternative Break program at KU improves every year and is definitely one of the largest," McCabe said.
He said the conference was unique because it placed participants through an Alternative Break while they learned how to strengthen their own programs.
The participants worked half a day at the Pelathe Community Center,1423 Haskell Ave., and they were in workshops for the other half, McCabe said.
"They also have speakers that have experiences with different aspects of Native American issues," he said.
McCabe said the conference incorporated all aspects of the Alternative Break program.
"You do community service, learn about social issues that coincide with the community service and can hopefully breakdown stereotypes and plan ways to become more involved and educated about communities," he said.
Kendra Seaman, recent Wichita graduate and former co-director for Alternative Breaks, said the program had changed her life.
"I went to Detroit and had an eye-opening experience," she said.
In Detroit the group went to schools and talked about violence prevention, Seaman said.
She said she learned that a large number of inner-city students were affected by violence.
"I realized there were a lot of amazing kids out there that had not had the same opportunities that I have had," Seaman said.
Her Alternative Break experience has led her to volunteering for Teach For America. The Teach For America program places volunteers in school districts that cannot hire enough teachers. She will spend two years teaching at schools in low-income areas.
McCabe said the Alternative Break program was about creating lifelong active citizens.
He said, "It is good that students are volunteering in the community, but the bigger issue is that they are educated on social issues through these programs and become active community members for a lifetime."
Contact Smith attsmith@kansan.com. This story was edited by Mandy Miller.
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