Students Spring Into Action Over Break

About 250 Westmont students and community volunteers are in Ensenada, Mexico, spending spring break constructing homes, operating medical and dental clinics, leading a vacation Bible school, running haircutting clinics and competing in sports events. More than 5,000 students have participated in Potter’s Clay, an annual student-organized service trip, since it began 31 years ago.

Westmont students are also serving with Spring Break in the City (SBIC), volunteering in San Francisco, and Racial Equality and Justice (REJ), traveling to Jackson, Miss., and Birmingham, Ala.

Students with SBIC will sleep and work at City Crossroads, a center for multi-ethnic and low-income families in the inner city of San Francisco. Student volunteers provide youngsters with a safe haven to gather for recreation, study, guidance and mentoring.

The REJ group is in its fifth year serving with the John M. Perkins Foundation in Mississippi and learning about Christian community development and racial and economic justice. Students will continue working on the Zechariah 8 project, which refurbishes homes for underserved families as a pathway to home ownership and provides enriching after-school programs for children and youth.

Not only are the service trips student-initiated and led, but students are required to raise more than $500 for each trip.

Students return to class Tuesday, March 25