As the Graduate Assistant in the Center for Civic Engagement at Oregon State University, I had the remarkable opportunity to help launch the Alternative Spring Break program, where I created and led two groups of students to Yakima, Washington (2012, 2013), focusing on Community and Cultural Engagement. We completed projects with the City of Yakima, the Native American Reservation, Yakama Nation, and a nearby town Wapato (more than 75% Latino) to learn about many of the complex issues facing this small city including violence, food insecurity, and homelessness.

Several of the projects were:

• Painting the inside of a homeless shelter
• Planting and gardening outside of a youth recreational facility
• Preparing a meal for a homeless youth organization
• Packing food at the food bank
• Organizing outdoor activities with children in a community where many parents worked after school hours
• Planting flower beds outside of the Yakama Longhouse
• Learning how to butcher meat to prepare for a meal at the Longhouse
• Pairing off in small groups with recent Mexican immigrants for a cultural and language exchange

 A handbook on how to plan a new service learning trip like this one is available from the author, by emailing Julia Lang at js479@cornell.edu