December 19, 2006

HCC volunteer group to spend extended MLK Jr holiday in MS

(Columbia, MD) –From January 11 - 16, 2007, ten Howard Community College (HCC) students and two advisors are helping residents of Kiln, Mississippi get back in their homes destroyed by hurricane Katrina.  The HCC Center for Service Learning (CSL) and Community Collaborations International (CCI) are partnering with local agencies to engage the volunteer group's services to rebuild homes.

This is HCC's first Alternative Winter Break trip, following two very successful Spring Break trips.  During the April 2006 Alternative Break, a dozen students and their advisors spent a week conducting service projects  in the Gulf states, including New Orleans, Louisiana and McLain, Mississippi.  The group also received history lessons with a stop in Selma, Alabama to tour the National Voting Rights Museum and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Civil Right’s Museum.

HCC's Coordinator of Service Learning Carol Parreco, trip organizer, explains that Alternative Spring Breaks provide students the opportunity to travel to different national and international communities and engage in direct service to benefit their host community "…while enhancing personal growth, mutual awareness and life-long learning." 

For more information on HCC Service Learning or the 2007 Alternative Winter Break, contact Carol Parreco at CParreco@howardcc.edu or 410-772-4432.

Howard Community College is located at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD 21044. For general information, phone 410-772-4800 or visit online at www.howardc.edu.