With spring break only a few days away, students might be looking forward to relaxing on the beach or visiting family and friends at home.

But at least 115 Penn State students are looking forward to working for Habitat for Humanity's spring break program, which will allow them travel to the southern United States and build homes for needy families.

Students will leave on Saturday for eight locations including Jacksonville, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., Charleston, S.C., and Americus, Ga., the Habitat for Humanity headquarters.

Students will travel in vans and stay at volunteer centers or local churches.

The cost of the trip is $220 per person. Sylvester Owusu (junior-kinesiology), who is making his second spring break trip and is the trip leader for Jacksonville, said,

"It's kind of ironic — we're paying money to do work."

To raise money for the trip, Penn State's Habitat branch sponsored a spaghetti dinner in January with food donations from local grocery stores. The other local Habitat affiliate, Tri-County Habitat for Humanity, agreed to double the money raised at the dinner, resulting in a total of $1,160.

During the spring break trips, volunteers will work from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day doing a variety of tasks including putting up the framework of the house, painting and landscaping.

But the week will not be all work and no play. Students are given a half a day to a day off during the week to visit the town in which they are working, go to local beaches or spend time with new people they have met.

Matt Strine (junior-elementary and kindergarten education), spring break finance coordinator, said the trip is remarkable.

"Everyone gets different things out of the experience," Strine said.

Volunteers said one of the greatest rewards of the trip is being able to work with the family that will live in the house.

Owusu said the best part of his trip last year was being able to see that he made a difference in someone's life.

Strine said most people do not realize the future homeowner is required to help build the house. Also, the homeowner pays an interest-free mortgage on the house.

Participants said the trips are a way to make new friends from Penn State and other universities.

"Even if you don't know anyone on the trip, you know you'll meet awesome people," Strine said.

The allure of the spring break trip seems to stick with many people. Greg Modesto (senior-finance and international business), spring break recruitment leader, who is making his fourth trip this year, said people come back on a "Habitat high" and want to do it again.

In fact, much of the group's recruiting comes from word of mouth from people who have gone on trips telling their friends, spreading interest in the trips.

Members of Penn State and Tri-County Habitat also are looking forward to their next big event, which is the building of the first-ever Penn State Habitat house.

Construction of the Penn State Habitat house will begin in August in Port Matilda.

Students raised $40,000 through canning and donations for the house, and they will provide volunteer labor.

Colleen Morrissey (senior-sociology), house sponsorship director, said the group is excited about the house, and it hopes the event can happen each year or every other year.

"It will be so rewarding to be able to affect the local community," she said.