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| Top from left: Jesse Howatt, Iain Arseneau, Aaron Vomberg. Bottom from left: Rachel Aaron, Jessica Roy, Sam Levy. (Nick Pearce Photo) |
There was a flood鈥攂ut this time, it was a good kind of flood. After an article entitled 鈥淏uilding on experience鈥� appeared in Dalnews last June, the AV俱乐部 chapter of Habitat for Humanity was inundated with applications for their next spring break trip to the southern United States.
鈥淲e printed off 60 sheets and then 100 more people turned up than we expected,鈥� says Aaron Vomberg, one of DalHabitat鈥檚 co-presidents, of their first meeting for the year.
鈥淚t was ridiculous,鈥� adds fellow co-president Jessica Roy.聽 鈥淟ast year, we got 54.鈥�
They鈥檝e had so much interest鈥攁 whopping 165 applications and counting鈥攖hat they may have to turn some people away.聽 But with a projected 150-strong crew of students heading south in February, they can still 鈥渟afely say that this is the largest contingent that any university from Canada has taken down to do a humanitarian effort.鈥�
DalHabitat works in partnership with the HRM chapter of Habitat for Humanity, as well as Collegiate Challenge, an American organization that finds spring break volunteer opportunities for universities across the U.S., and now a few in Canada.聽 Last year, DalHabitat volunteers worked on the Musicians鈥� Village, a building project in New Orleans.
Next month, during study break, the AV俱乐部 students will be travelling to Biloxi, Mississippi. With more students than ever on board, DalHabitat is set to leave a mark even its founders couldn鈥檛 have dreamed of in 2006, when 18 students made the pilgrimage in rented minivans. Although organizing a road trip and 11 days of volunteer work for 150 students could seem daunting, Ms. Roy and Mr. Vomberg insist that 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to go smoothly.鈥澛�
Luckily, they鈥檝e got a dedicated exec behind them: Iain Arseneau, Rachel Aaron, Jesse Howatt, and Sam Levy.聽 Thanks to this hard-working team, an unprecedented number of AV俱乐部 students will escape the winter for two weeks, and may even have the experience of a lifetime.
Applications for the spring break trip have closed, but DalHabitat encourages students to check out the for other volunteer opportunities.