Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

Alternative Spring Break

History

In the fall of 2005, North Carolina (NC) State University approached the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia to develop an interfaith service-learning program as an alternative spring break option for its students. The university’s Center for Student Leadership Ethics & Public Service expressed an interest in creating a “unique service-learning experience in which students engage in direct service work within the Philadelphia community, while being immersed in the culture and customs of that community.” Together the Interfaith Center and NC State University worked to create meaningful interfaith and service-learning experiences that would be unique and powerful for each individual involved.

A group of eight university students came to Philadelphia during their spring break in March 2006 to participate in this new program. Their trip included entering into conversation with people from seven religious traditions and completing a service-learning project with an after-school program at Hancock St. John’s United Methodist Church in Kensington. College students assisted elementary school students with their homework, completed building repairs, and created a mural with the help of children in the after-school program.

In March 2007, Alternative Spring Break welcomed eight new NC State University students. Their service-learning experiences included staying overnight with families in transition at First Presbyterian Church in Germantown through the Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network. They also volunteered two nights serving the chronically street homeless population at Grace Café sponsored by Project H.O.M.E.

Program Opportunities

Interfaith

• Having lunch with members of a Baha’i community;
• Celebrating Purim, a Jewish holiday that features reading the Book of Esther;
• Attending various Christian—Catholic and Protestant—worship services;
• Attending a prayer service with Sikh community members at their Gurdwara;
• Visiting a mosque and observing a prayer service;
• Participating in an interfaith text study;
• Visiting the homes and religious communities of Interfaith Center board members.

Service-Learning

• Tutoring children in an after-school program;
• Serving families in transition;
• Serving the chronically street homeless;
• Volunteering at a food cupboard;
• Renovating buildings.

Reflection through the Arts

• Creating a mural for a Methodist church with children of that church under the direction of Joe Brenman, an artist-in-residence at the Arts & Spirituality Center;
• Writing poems reflecting on the week’s service-learning under the direction of Dr. Cathleen Cohen, the Director of We the Poets, a program organized by the Arts & Spirituality Center.