Staff and Students Donate Time to Rebuild Homes on Jersey Shore

April 13, 2015 BK LI

BROOKLYN and PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – APRIL 13, 2015 – A dedicated group of 25 students and staff members from St. Joseph’s College (SJC) have opted for an alternative spring break trip this year, recently traveling to the Jersey Shore to help rebuild homes that were still damaged from Superstorm Sandy. For this year’s trip, SJC partnered with Break a Difference, an organization that provides community impact opportunities across the globe through alternative break programs. 

“The annual alternative spring break trip is an opportunity for our students to live out the College’s motto and mission to serve others,” said Patrick Tracy, director of campus ministry on SJC’s Long Island Campus. “Each year, we focus on an area that is in need of help so that our students see how they can make a difference in the world and bring relief to others. They always get more than they give, simply by using their talent for a good cause.” 

In addition to SJC’s alternative spring and winter break programs, students are encouraged to donate their time and effort to make a difference in their own communities throughout the semester. Some recent community service projects include cooking at Hope House in Port Jefferson and St. Joseph the Worker Church in East Patchogue, and visiting local nursing homes and Habitat for Humanity worksites to deliver food to those in need. Later this month, students are holding a sandwich drive and will be helping landscape homes in Lindenhurst.

SJC students spent last year’s alternative spring break trip helping to rebuild homes that were destroyed by floods in Colorado. Previous trips have also included helping to build a day care center and playground in Nicaragua, building homes in Georgetown, South Carolina and rebuilding homes that were destroyed by tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri. 

ABOUT ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE
St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility and service. With campuses located in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Long Island, the College offers degrees in more than 35 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs.