Give Back With An Alternative Spring Break

It’s so nice to daydream about trips to warm, sunny beaches to relax and warm up after winter, but have you considered adding a more charitable addition to your vacation plan? Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips are popular among high school and college students who perform volunteer work during their school break. You can take the idea and turn it into a family vacation or a solo mission!

This post will explore options for service destinations within the United States and internationally, as well as “staycation” ideas that will let you design your own Alternative Spring Break.

Service Trip Programs

Great for older kids in middle and high school, a service trip for Alternative Spring Break is a great way for them to get some community service hours and great experience for their college applications. They don’t have to be just for the high school kids, either! Some programs accept younger children and you can go on a service trip with the whole family.

- United Way’s Alternative Spring Break program is open to ages 18 and up, and you can arrange the trip with co-workers, fellow students, family members, or on your own. The program has had over 5,000 participants who completed over 150,000 hours of service since 2006! The United Way program focuses on community projects in United States cities such as Baltimore, Washington DC, and New Orleans. Program costs range from $275-$395 plus travel.

- If you want to travel the world and do community service at the same time, there are international Alternative Spring Break trips too! Projects Abroad offers one week spring break trips in Latin America and Africa for adults, and they also offer several High School trips to locations across the globe for students age 16-19. The cost of a Projects Abroad Alternative Spring Break trip is about $1500 plus travel. Fundraising options are available to help!

- Outreach360 is another organization that offers service trips from one week (perfect for spring break) to twelve weeks in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. They offer discounted rates for groups of 10 or more and an early signup discount. A one-week trip will cost $700-$900 plus travel costs. Outreach360 also helps volunteers raise the money for their trip with built-in fundraising pages when they sign up.

Encourage the high school and college students in your family to sign up and fundraise for a trip, or you can make it a family affair and take everyone!

Give Back at Home

If it’s not in your schedule or your budget to plan a service trip, you can create an Alternative Spring Break “staycation” in your hometown.

- Volunteer or donate pet supplies for your local animal shelter

- Volunteer or donate supplies for a homeless shelter

- Pick up litter in your neighborhood

- Donate toys and children’s items to a non-profit that helps foster children

- Browse your park department’s newsletter for trail cleanup and other volunteer projects

- Help your local school’s ASB group meet its fundraising goal

- Volunteer your time at a local senior center

- Arrange a meal train for a family with a newborn baby

- Participate in a charity 5K or fun run

Ready to Give Back?

What’s your favorite service idea from our list, and what would you add?