Students dedicate their spring break to serving the community 

Fifty Fresno State students will engage in community service projects this spring break in partnership with Stone Soup Fresno, the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Schools Program, Scout Island Outdoor Education Center and Poverello House. 

This marks the 14th year of the Fresno State’s Alternative Spring Break program, sponsored by the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning at the university.

Three student teams will complete over 1,200 hours of service from March 25 through 28. The students are expected to develop leadership and communication skills, enhance their personal and professional development and network with other students and community-benefit organizations, all while providing meaningful service to the community.

“I love helping in my community and doing my part to care for the environment in Fresno. Last year we made so much progress and to be able to see the difference this year is really impactful,” said Juli Quintanilla, a returning Alternative Spring Break volunteer and Richter Center student leader.  

The first team, made up of 14 students and led by Sydney Firstman and David Bautista, will work with Stone Soup and MESA to put on a four-day science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) camp for children in first through sixth grades. On the fourth day of the project, students will host a Fresno State Outreach Day where the children from the STEAM camp will be invited to Fresno State for a tour and lunch.

The second team, made up of 13 students and led by Celeste Jones, Rachel Mancebo and Juli Quintanilla, will focus on environmental restoration with Scout Island. Students will work on several environmental projects, such as building nesting boxes for birds, building bee boxes for pollinators, planting native species and more.

The third team, made up of 12students and led by Amneek Chalotra, Gurmannat Chalotra and Mone Rocha, will work with Poverello House to serve the unhoused population of Fresno. Volunteer duties will include packaging grocery meal bags, meal preparation and serving food. 

Team members will also participate in reflection activities at the conclusion of each service day. These activities promote learning and strengthen the students’ personal and professional development.

For live coverage of Alternative Spring Break and more information about future service events, follow the Richter Center on Instagram, @RichterCenter. 

For more information, contact Kayla Ferreira, special projects coordinator at the Richter Center, at kferreira@csufresno.edu or 559.278.2339.

(Story by Celeste Jones)