This year’s Alternative Spring Break, an annual event held by the Office of Student Life, was focused on homelessness and poverty in the community.

Natalie Beckley, Student Life coordinator, and Amanda Schacht, director of Student Life, organized the event.

“From driving to getting the students to their volunteer location on time to sending out emails, we had to be making sure we’ve got places to go and things to do,” Beckley says.

Students volunteered at the Greater Hammond Community Services food pantry in Hammond on March 12, Housing Opportunities homeless shelter in Valparaiso on March 13 and the Sandcastle Shelter for Homeless Families on March 14. With Beckley, students organized food pantries and painted rooms, spending roughly five hours a day at work.

“There’s a pillar of student life for us that’s community engagement and service, and alternative spring helps fulfill that need,” Beckley adds. “We also want to give back, it’s something we feel students and PNW in general should be a part of.”

Beckley said she wants to raise awareness of programs that the Office of Student Life has available to students.

“This event is sort of under marketed, and we’d like to grow it because here’s a lot of people who would like to volunteer and get involved, and spring break is a great time to do it because you don’t have any classes,” Beckley said.