During spring break, Campus Ministry will send 95 people to various cities across the country to take part in Service and Solidarity Missions trips. These mission trips are a week long, where Saint Anselm College students volunteer to serve a particular community in need and then spend time reflecting on the experience and its personal and societal impact.

This year’s trip locations include the David School in Kentucky; HOME in Maine; Benedictine School for Exceptional Children in Maryland; Camp Friendship in Mississippi; St. Benedictine’s Prep in New Jersey; God’s Love We Deliver in New York; Re-Member in South Dakota. There will be 14 student leaders and 81 participants who will be going on a Spring Break Alternative trip.

The four goals of Service and Solidarity Mission trips are to impact a particular social need; understand systematic injustice; reflect on self and spirit; and change perspectives and habits.

Susan Gabert, Director of Campus Ministry says the following of the importance of the Service and Solidarity trips: “It is an opportunity to respond to the needs of the community and to exercise our commitment to the common good. It is important to contribute in a positive way to the needs of our community locally, nationally, and globally.  It is an opportunity for our students to walk alongside those in need and learn.”

She says that students should take part in these trips because of “the importance of serving others, the opportunity to expose themselves to difference and to become more aware of social injustices, to reflect on one’s personal values and faith response to our brothers and sisters in need, to reflect on how one hopes to engage civically.”

As far as leaders go, there tends to be around 50 applicants who are interested in around 35 leader positions. The process for choosing leaders is an in-depth one. Students who have participated in previous Service and Solidarity trips are eligible to apply in the late spring. Campus Ministry has information sessions to address questions.

The stages of selection are: a written application, a group process interview, and then a personal interview with Campus Ministry staff and a student selection team.  The selection process is more than simply selecting those who have the capacity to lead. A team dynamic is also considered because students lead in teams of two. Important questions to be asked are who would work well together, be able to balance each other out, etc.

Also an important question to take into account is which season would work best for each candidate. For example, a student teacher during first semester would be better suited for the spring because of the commitments necessary to prepare for the trip.  Lastly, leaders are matched to sites.  Each site has different characteristics and student placement needs (i.e. first time participants or repeaters).

Service and Solidarity trips tend to be pretty competitive. About 200 people applied to go on Winter Break Alternative (WBA) trips this year, while about 120 people applied to go on Spring Break Alternative (SBA) trips. This year, 90 people were waitlisted for WBA, so two additional trips were added for WBA and one was taken away from SBA. For SBA, the waitlist was about 20 but everybody on the waitlist was eventually placed on a trip.

Senior Katie Gemmell, who will be a leader on the Mississippi trip has been on three trips: Kentucky, New York, and Detroit. She said, “They are all different and beautiful in separate ways. I have learned so much about social injustice in all these places.” When asked about why she decided to be a leader, she said, “I wanted to be a leader because Service and Solidarity has made such an impact on me and I believe that I should give back. I want my participants to understand love, life, and social justice the way I was taught through my trips.”

Gemmell said of her upcoming trip, “I am very excited to go to Aberdeen, Mississippi. My co-leader Griffin and I have been preparing for this journey for an entire year. We will be cleaning and rebuilding a children’s summer camp called Camp Friendship. We are very excited to work hard physically, mentally, and spiritually during this week.”

Mike Ryan, also a senior, will be leading a trip to New York. He has been on one trip previously to David, Kentucky. He said of his decision to lead, “I wanted to lead a trip to get a more in depth experience that I hadn’t had on my previous trip, hopefully inviting others into doing some sort of service who wouldn’t have otherwise.”

He continued, talking about his excitement about his upcoming trip: “I’m really excited about the upcoming trip to New York City to work with an organization called “God’s Love We Deliver” which brings food and other necessary utilities to the homeless population in Manhattan. There are 14 of us going in total and it should be a great experience.”

The overall consensus about the Service and Solidarity Mission trips is that they are great way to show that you are thankful for what you have by giving back to a community that is not as fortunate as the ones from where we come.