ABP

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Trips

Trips

To be a participant on one of our trips, sign up through our page on KnightConnect, and then attend Lottery Knight! At lottery Knight, you will get to learn about all of the trips being offered for that semester, talk to the trip leaders, and sign up. We’ll give you a ticket at the door, and when your name is randomly selected, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for the trip you want!

Fall Lottery Knight: You just missed it! But we still have plenty of spots, and you can sign up by coming to the OSI office with your payment.

Spring Lottery Knight: November 29, 6:30-9:30 in SU 318

We will be taking a $100 trip deposit at Lottery Knight, and the rest will be due one week from Lottery Knight in the OSI office. Full Prices are:

Veteran’s Day Weekend:$100
Winter:$250
MLK Weekend:$100
Spring:$250 Domestic or $550 International

Payment will be accepted through cash, check, or money order. We can’t wait to see you there!

Fall Trips
Thanksgiving Break Trips
Winter Break Trips

Shrinking the Time Between Disaster and Recovery: Rebuilding New Orleans from the Ground Up

Disaster Relief

Trip Coordinators: Fatheheya Iguel and Amber Barrett

New Orleans, LA

Dec. 10, 2017 - Dec. 16, 2017

Blog

During this Winter Break, we will be travelling to New Orleans to work with SBP New Orleans. SBP is a disaster rebuilding organization whose mission is to shorten the time between disaster and recovery and to fortify people against unnecessary suffering. New Orleans experienced the Louisiana Flood of 2016, which resulted in the devastation of approximately 146,000 homes and is reported by many news networks as the "worst US disaster since Hurricane Sandy." New Orleans SBP is an organization who hopes to achieve its mission through five interventions, "Rebuild, Share, Prepare, Advise, and Advocate." We will be staying at the St. Jude Community Center at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. For more information, contact abplead@ucf.edu or abp3@ucf.edu.

Helping the Homeless in Nashville: Understanding the Connection between Poverty and Addiction

Hunger and Homelessness

Trip Coordinators: Erika Furlong and Lina Bedoya

Nashville, TN

Dec. 10, 2017 - Dec. 16, 2017

Blog

Our trip will be focused on educating UCF students about the issues of hunger and homelessness and addiction recovery through volunteering with the Nashville Rescue Mission and Park Center in Nashville, TN. Both of these social issues are closely related since drug consumption and addiction may be causes or consequences of hunger/homelessness. At these locations, UCF students will be learning about how to help the homeless community both long and short term while volunteering in the kitchens and helping with rehabilitation of both premises. We will be staying in the McKendree United Methodist Church. For more information, contact abp5@ucf.edu or abp7@ucf.edu.

Relieving the Habitants of Asheville of the Modern “Disposable” Lifestyle

Environmental

Trip Coordinators: Lex Yates and Ai Quynh Nguyen

Asheville, NC

Dec. 10, 2017 - Dec. 16, 2017

Blog

Our group will be working with Asheville Greenworks to appreciate and preserve the natural landscape of North Carolina and educate people about the importance of sustainability. We will have a large selection of activities to choose from, including their Trash Boom Project (booms installed in rivers that need maintenance/trash collection), river cleanup on a boat, creek restoration, planting food trees, and the Asheville Bag Monster Project.  We will be staying in a YMCA cabin. For more information, contact abpglobal@ucf.edu

MLK Weekend Trips

The Life of a Farmworker: Understanding Where our Food Comes From

Immigration and Environment

Trip Coordinator: Alicia Perez

Apopka, FL

Jan. 13, 2018 - Jan. 15, 2018

Blog

The Farm Workers Association of Florida's long-standing mission is to build power among farmworker communities to respond to and gain control over the social, political, workplace, economic, health, and environmental justice issues that impact their lives. FWAF's guiding vision is a social environment where farmworkers' contribution, dignity, and worth, is acknowledged, appreciated, and respected. During our time here, we will be working in a nursery and community garden, learning about our effect of the environemnt, and hiking and exploring Apopka. We will be staying in the office of FWAF. For more information, contact abp2@ucf.edu

Spring Break Trips

Caring for a Coffee Community Through Education and Sustainability

Environment

Trip Coordinators: Selena Lopez and Solange Olivares

Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

On this experience, participants will be going to a coffee plantation in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica to work and live with the people who grow coffee. During this experience, participants will not only learn about the issues that affect the people who grow our food, but will also learn about conservation in Costa Rica, explore the mountains of Sarapiqui, and volunteer in local schools. Participants will have the unique opportunity to do homestays with local families while in Costa Rica, making it possible to truly immerse yourself in the culture of Costa Rica and the lives of the coffee growers.

Exploring the Intersectionality of Civil Rights, Social Movements, and Systems of Oppression

Civil Rights

Trip Coordinator: Amber Barrett

Selma, Alabama

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

For this experience, we will be partnering with the Selma Center for Nonviolence and Reconciliation to explore the civil rights issues deeply rooted in our nation’s history. Selma Center is committed to transforming and healing the root causes of physical, political, psychological, environmental, economic and racial violence at personal, family, community and systemic levels. We will work to create local sector-level changes in areas such as our justice system, economy, and social/cultural institutions that make Dr. King's vision of the Beloved Community a defining part of our everyday lives in Selma and beyond. 

Reform and Resettlement in Clarkston: Alleviating the Refugee Crisis One Family at a Time

Refugee Resettlement

Trip Coordinators: Ai Quynh Nguyen and Lex Yates

Clarkston, GA

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

Participants will be exposed to this issue by traveling to Clarkston, Georgia, a community rich in different cultures and experiences that has become a huge melting pot for recently settled refugees. Participants will learn more about refugee resettlement and the experiences that they have had to endure by undergo training to focus on education about refugee resettlement. Participants will also be volunteering with refugee youth and families to help them integrate into their new life by participating in after school programming, prepping apartments for refugee families, and much more through Something New, a service learning geared program. We will be staying in a local church. 

Pride: Building Future Leaders and Safer Communities

LGBTQ Rights and Awareness

Trip Coordinators: Lina Bedoya and Matt Corvin

Charlotte, NC

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

With the help of Campus Pride, which is the leading national educational organization for LGBTQ and ally college students and campus organizations, we attempt to educate volunteers about LGBTQ inclusion for youth on college and university campuses, in the social justice skills, community, and leadership development. Volunteering and educational activities may include sports index outreach, LGBTQ perspective exhibit, online fair outreach, queer history, LGBTQ awareness projects, and LGBTQ & the Media. We will be staying in the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church.

Enriching the Populace of Atlanta: Planting the Seeds of Knowledge on Health and Hunger

Health & Hunger and Homelessness

Trip Coordinators: Fatheheya Iguel and Johnna Gracik

Atlanta, GA

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

*This trip is restricted to members of the LEAD Scholars Academy* During this Spring Break, we will be traveling to Atlanta, GA to work with the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition tackling multiple social issues including Health, and Hunger & Homelessness. AHRC’s vision is to service individuals who require a higher level of care and follow through with linkage to substance use treatment, health service, and/or transitional facilities. According to the most recently available CDC HIV Surveillance Report, in 2015, Georgia ranked 5th in the nation for new HIV diagnoses among adults and adolescents (2,381). AHRC specializes in prevention programs that provide clients with the tools they need to live safer lives. Using a harm reduction approach, we can build relationships with individuals who are vulnerable to contracting or transmitting HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), viral Hepatitis, and other blood borne pathogens. We will be staying at Lydia's House, a part of Park Avenue Baptist Church.

Advocating for Those Without Voices: Hubert’s Mission for Wildlife Conservation

Animal Awareness

Trip Coordinator: Erika Furlong

Hubert, North Carolina

3/11/18 - 3/17/18

Blog

The conservation of wildlife is a global concern that sometimes gets a lack of focus. Since 1970, the earth’s population of vertebrate animals has decreased by 58 percent. For land animals specifically, the population has fallen 38 percent overall; however in land-based protected areas that percentage is cut in half. That shows that nature preserves greatly help slow down wildlife decline. At Possumwood Acres Wildlife Sanctuary in Hubert, NC, they help sick, orphaned, and endangered wildlife native to North Carolina. Part of their mission is to educate the public about the environment and to promote awareness about how to protect the areas animals and natural resources. During our alternative break experience we will be assisting the sanctuary with the daily care of the animals and birds, grounds maintenance such as gardening, as well as learning about how to spread awareness about environmental conservation. We will be sleeping on air mattresses at Enon Chapel Baptist Church.

Past Trips