UF's Florida Alternative Breaks program, which recently won the 2009 National Alternative Break Program of the Year from Break Away, will have summer trips from Aug. 9 through Aug. 19 this year, and interested students need to have their applications in by July 13.
The early deadline gives little time for Summer B freshmen to hear about FAB, so the organization has been tabling during Preview to let freshmen know about the upcoming deadline.
"I would say Summer B is a great time for a freshman to get involved because everything is a little less hectic," Andrew Perrone, FAB staff adviser said. "They're not as inundated with other stuff and can devote more attention."
Perrone said he was pleased with the number of interested students during tabling.
Most freshmen arrive in the fall, leaving many of those attending Summer B looking for ways to meet people.
"If you're coming to UF not knowing a lot of people, you will meet 13 people off the bat," Perrone said.
Robin Joseph, 21, who has been on three FAB trips since coming across a description in The Gator Times a year ago, decided to volunteer at a homeless shelter in Atlanta, Ga., last summer.
There, her group learned some sign language by assisting a deaf tenant who had few people to talk to since moving from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
He had previously spent days reading in the library alone, Joseph said.
"When we left, he signed 'I love you,'" she said.
Joseph said she wishes she had started volunteering sooner, plans to go on her fourth trip this summer and recommends that students go before the fall, so they don't have to worry about classes.
"Many people seem to have found their passion through FAB," Joseph said.
Romilda Justilien, 20, a Preview staffer, joined FAB her freshman year after hearing about the program from the DSO.
People make friendships that last beyond the trip, Justilien said.
During her first winter break away from home, Justilien went to Nashville and joined Florida State University students to paint a wall mural with patients from a local mental health institute.
Justilien and others on her trip also assisted patients at the institute by doing their chores and having sessions with them.
"Everyone is human in some way. That's the message," she said.
Depending on the amount of fundraising, a domestic trip like Joseph's or Justilien's costs between $175 and $225.
Trips this summer involve working to promote HIV/AIDS education in urban settings, working with more than 80 threatened and endangered carnivores or learning the concerns of all parties affected by the criminal justice system.
http://dso.ufl.edu/studentorgs/fab.
