This year, the focuses of individual trips include the environment, Native American culture, education, social issues and urban issues.

The club has grown from sponsoring four trips last year to nine this year and brings together a unique group of "enthusiastic, spirited and inspired students," said trip coordinator Kathy Larash (senior-human development and family studies).

The variety of this year's trips appeals to students in many majors.

Students traveling to Virginia will work at a riverfront park and a bald eagle reserve area, participate in a resource management project and perform trail work, said Kelly O'Brien (sophomore-wildlife and fishery science).

"I'm going because it is involved with my major," said O'Brien, who will participate in the environmental trip to the Virginia State Parks.

This year's trip participants include many students who went during previous spring breaks.

Zoe Ramagnano (junior-animal bioscience), who participated in Alternative Spring Break last year, is now a coordinator for an urban-issue trip to Washington, D.C.

"It was a life-changing experience," Ramagnano said of last year's trip. "When you help people and serve the community, it's hard to come out of that not changed. That's why I came back."

Students going to Washington, D.C., will be working in small and large soup kitchens, volunteering with an AIDS organization and helping the mentally challenged, she said.

The work of the club, however, is not over at the end of the week.

"It's not just a week-long thing," Larash said. "The trips are based on service learning. We take what we learn and see how we can apply it to our daily lives."

Club members hope to return and share their experiences with others, said Marc Seiden (junior-geography). The trip exposes students to things they wouldn't come across at Penn State, added Seiden, who is going on the social-issue trip to Cleveland.

"I want to break down stereotypes," he said, "then share the experience with the community and let it inspire us to do more."