While some students spent their Spring break lounging in exotic locations or catching up on sleep at home, more than 200 students completed nearly 11,000 hours of community service in 20 locations around the country.

According to Program Manager Mike D’Emic, 203 undergraduate students participated in ASB with 40 coordinators, which was less than the number of students who tried to register in February. He said he hopes that the program can accommodate more students in the future.

“We had so much interest,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said. “We hope to be able to support that in the future.”

D’Emic said ASB will continue to expand its issue areas in years to come, including expanded HIV/AIDS volunteer opportunities.

This year, the number of locations increased from 12 to 20.

D’Emic said he was particularly excited for this year’s addition of Indian reservations in South Dakota and Oklahoma.

“The two new Indian reservations trips were both great experiences all around,” he said. “They provided cultural experiences as well as valuable community service for students.”

College of Arts and Sciences junior Rachel Potter coordinated the Panama City, Fla. trip. Potter said students had the opportunity to do a variety of service at the Marine Institute in Panama City. Tasks ranged from working with delinquent youth to degreasing a ship.

“This trip was unique because there was no one specific area of interest,” she said. “It was the first time that a trip did not have a specific interest.”

Potter said being a coordinator seemed a bit daunting initially, but wound up not being too much trouble.

“Coordinators work in pairs, so you have to be on the same page as your co-coordinator when you plan directions and night time activities,” she said. “But once you start, things start falling into place.”

Marathon, Fla. trip coordinator Rebecca Haskell said working together was the highlight of the trip.

“Becoming a group and developing a good group dynamic was the main reward,” the School of Education freshman said.

Stone Mountain, Ga. participant Christiana Fischer said she valued volunteering closely with other students.

“On a personal level, the greatest part of the trip was meeting people who like doing community service and sharing that common bond,” the CAS junior said.

Fischer said students worked with the Friends of Disabled Adults and Children in Stone Mountain.

“We built a ramp for a woman in Georgia who had not been outside of her house in two years,” Fischer said. “She was finally able to get her own mail.”

Because the students were doing such beneficial work, CAS senior Anni Baker said local residents treated them very kindly in Greenbrier, Ark.

“Everybody there was so welcoming and so receptive,” she said. “Plus, there was great food, and they made us feel so welcome.”

In Greenbrier, Baker said she helped out on a horse ranch that does “Hippo Therapy,” in which riding horses is used as a form of physical therapy.

D’Emic said all of the trips went smoothly without complications. However, he did say students who volunteered in Arkansas may have gotten more than they bargained for.

“The closest thing we had to a problem was the tornado in Arkansas,” he said. “It was more of an adventure than a problem though.”