Every year, Elon University’s Kernodle Center for Civic Life hosts Alternative Break programs, allowing students to participate in community service projects around the world.
Elon University students took an alternative to the typical spring break this year, participating in four different Alternative Break programs to give back to communities around the world.
The programs, hosted by Elon’s Kernodle Center for Civic Life, included projects in Western North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Costa Rica. Alternative Break programs are immersive service experiences that introduce students to new communities while working to address domestic and global social issues. The programs are part of Elon’s commitment to building globally engaged citizens through service, which is one of the five Elon Experiences.
Do something meaningful
Each program was led by two students who worked alongside staff in the Kernodle Center to organize the trip. Liwei Chen ’25 and Ashley Josey ’25 were the student coordinators for the Savannah program. For Josey, it was something she wanted to do before closing out her time at Elon.
“At Elon, I got involved with trip leading through different opportunities like ELOA (Experiential Learning & Outdoor Adventures) and summer jobs, so it was something I developed a skillset for,” said Josey, a communication design major from Cary, North Carolina. “The theme of my whole senior year is giving back to the community and so it was important that I made this happen. It was in my heart.”
The students in Savannah worked with the YMCA, Second Harvest Food Bank, the City Garden Homestead Association and Healthy Savannah on different food security issues. The work included sorting food donated from different organizations, preparing meals for community members and learning more about local food production. They also woke up early to help set up the Forsyth Farmer’s market on their last day, and worked in a local community garden.
“We really got to understand the local food system from the ground all the way to the community members,” said Josey. “We had a lot of opportunities to do direct service every day but also embrace the experience as learners and getting to have an open mind and hear from cool people.”
This was the third Alternative Break program in a row that Chen has participated in, and her second as a leader.
“We want to use our break to do something meaningful,” said Chen, a mathematics and statistics major from China. “I barely have the opportunity to go to different parts of the U.S., so this is definitely an opportunity to grow and learn about social issues more.”
‘Be selfless’
Hallie Beeker ’26 has been involved with the Kernodle Center since her freshman year and completed her third Alternative Break, this time in Costa Rica, her second as a student coordinator.
“I went on my first Alternative Break to Puerto Rico and absolutely loved it,” said Beeker, a biology major from South Hampton, New York. “I felt really inspired and I wanted to foster that same environment for more students at Elon because I thought it helped me grow a lot as a person.”
In Costa Rica, Beeker and her co-coordinator Sophia Del Priore ’25 led their group through multiple community development projects, including repairing a school roof and playground and building a bathroom for a woman in the community. The students all lived with a Costa Rican host family together.
“The family was so amazing. They give everything to the volunteers. They’re just so selfless,” said Del Priore, a biochemistry major from Huntington, New York. “The biggest takeaway that I got from them is to be selfless, give your all in everything you do and follow your dreams. They all sound cliché but it’s very powerful when it comes from them.”
As a biochemistry major with four different jobs, including at Elon’s IT Service Desk and as a teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry, Del Priore says she always found it difficult to find time to volunteer. The experience with the Kernodle Center, her second Alternative Break in Costa Rica, gave Del Priore the opportunity to give back.
“Taking spring break to volunteer, and if it’s something they give scholarships for and I don’t have to try and figure out a way to pay for it, I was like ‘Why wouldn’t I take the opportunity to do it?’” Del Priore said.
Learning by leading
Ian Ramirez ’27 and Jake Lairson ’27 went on the Costa Rica Alternative Break in spring 2024. The two lived in the same residence hall during their first year at Elon, and when they each began to see promotions for Alternative Break programs, it piqued their interest.
This year, the two led the program in Charleston, South Carolina, focused on environmental sustainability. The group of students worked with Charleston Waterkeeper to make manufactured wire reefs for oysters to grow, along with the Aviation Conservation Center, cleaning up their facilities.
“I’m a public health minor and I’ve wanted to work in medical care for the longest time,” said Ramirez, an economics major from Baltimore, Maryland. “I love helping people and getting to do that. Last year in Costa Rica was life-changing for me. Everyone that we went on the trip with speaks so highly of the experience. So, I definitely wanted to do that again.”
The experience also included working with Neighbors Together, a food bank in Charleston; Fields to Families, an organization dedicated to improving access to fresh food; and The Green Heart Project, which builds garden-based experiential learning projects.
“I learned a lot of leadership skills,” said Lairson, a finance major from Atlanta, Georgia. “I was focused on the other people in the group, making sure they were all doing well and able to create friendships. As a leader, I was making sure everyone else was taking something away from the trip.”
Ramirez and Lairson are excited for future Alternative Breaks and hope to lead the Costa Rica experience in 2026.