Alternative Break Service Trips
In October, January, and March, during Warren Wilson's Fall, Winter, and Spring Breaks, Service-Learning sends groups of students all over the Southeast to spend their week working with one or two non-profit organizations. These trips are meant to provide the agency with ample volunteer work hours as well as provide students with an opportunity to meet new people, discover new places, and become more knowledgable about a specific social or environmental issue.

Fall Break 2007 (October 21-29)
This past Fall Break, the Service-Learning Office organized three trips:
- Bike and Serve, NC and SC: Students biked throughout North and South Carolina to get to their three service projects in three cities. Students worked at a nature preserve, and two sites building houses for families. A highlight for the students was biking throughout the scenic regions of North Carolina and getting tons of exercise.
- Cumberland Island National Seashore, GA: Volunteer work included building a camping platform in one of the Seashore's primitive campgrounds.
- Local Service Sampler: This group helped out a variety of agencies, including Mountain Housing Opportunities, Swannanoa 4H Camp, a food pantry, and the Carver Center.
Winter Break 2008 (January 13-21)
During the last week of Winter Break, the Service-Learning Office organized the following trip:
- Commonground Collective, LA: A Katrina relief trip to the 7th and 9th Wards of New Orleans. Volunteers gutted damaged homes, removed debris, cleaned and organized in St. Bernard's Parish.
Spring Break 2008 (March 16-25)
For Spring Break 2008, the Service-Learning Office organized four break trips:
- Hinton Rural Life Center, NC: Students installed insulation and helped build houses for families that cannot otherwise afford them. Students were able to work with the families receiving the houses and felt a great sense of accomplishment in helping finish them.The site was located near the beach and students had a fun time skipping rocks and hanging out.
- Appalachian Trail, NC: Volunteers helped install water bars to prevent soil erosion, helped clear trails and provided trail maintenance on a small section of the Appalachian Trail. The site provided lots of biodiversity and students were able to hike and explore the scenic trail.
- Community Gardens, NC: On this local trip, students worked with a variety of community gardens in Asheville and Buncombe county. Students learned about the importance of community gardens and were able to meet a variety of different people. The group stayed at the Rockmont Center in Asheville.
- Congaree National Park, SC: The group canoed each day to get to their work site where they helped clear an area for a future campsite among other trail preservation work. Students camped in the park, the nation's largest old-growth forest.