Spring Break 2011 was more than just a relaxing vacation for 20 public administration students and faculty at Grand Valley State University.

They drove the 18 hours for their annual service trip to South Dakota to help the town of Dupree, located in the Cheyenne Sioux Indian Reservation. This was the fifth year that the class has gone on a trip for Spring Break.

The Johnson Center for Philanthropy and the School of Public, Nonprofit and Health Administration helped sponsor the service learning trip.

“This trip is a great opportunity for students to see a different perspective of life,” said Quincy Williams, director of the Non Profit Leadership Alliance and will serve as the faculty leader for the trip. “You get to see life on the other side of the tracks. It’s truly a humbling experience.”

The PA 380 class volunteered at the Cheyenne Sioux YMCA with after-school programs and with the Native American youth in the poorest county in the United States. Six tornadoes swept through the area in two days in 2010, along with a major ice storm in January that left the county without power.

“This (was) my first service trip ever,” said Zac VanOsdol, a GVSU senior. “I’ve done local mission or service projects but that’s it. I’m even more excited about this trip because it’s the poorest county in the United States. Many mission trips leave the U.S., but I feel it is necessary to also help fellow Americans, especially since they are Native.”

Before leaving for South Dakota, he expected to encounter a different culture. West Michigan might seem industrialized and wealthy compared to the designated poorest county.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to reach out to such a culture. We talk about diversity and culture, and now we get to experience it,” Williams said. “Life outside of West Michigan is just so much different, it’s a totally new cultural experience.”

Volunteers worked on local service projects in Dupree in the mornings and spent the afternoons working with after-school programs at the YMCA.

“It was a lot of work that’s for sure, but it was lots of fun too,” said senior Victor Ramirez. “In the mornings, we would work and volunteer on different things, and after school got out, we would hang out with the kids at the YMCA. I’d really like to go back.”

Ramirez also recommends other students join him on his second trip to South Dakota.

“I’d totally recommend it to other students as long as your heart’s in it to work for the community and you aren’t just looking for a vacation, because it’s a lot of hard work,” he added.

For more information regarding the 2011 service trip or for upcoming events and services, go to sdslt.blogspot.com.

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