Stony Brook University’s Alternative Spring Break Outreach (ASBO), developed during the 2005-2006 academic year, is one of several student-run volunteering organizations on campus. Throughout the academic year, the organization hosts local volunteer opportunities and team-building events, and students organize a week-long spring break trip to a community in need. 

ASBO partakes in various local outreach activities, including weeding and mulching, donating organically grown produce to local food pantries at Bethel Hobbs Farm, working with children at Little Flower Orphanage and organizing supermarket drives for Island Harvest, which distributes food across Long Island daily.

Hannah Stout, the president of ABSO and a senior double majoring in mathematics and globalization studies and international relations, provided insight into some of the other events the organization holds, both on and off-campus.  

“In the fall we do on-campus care package events, where students write cards and pack and decorate boxes of supplies for underprivileged groups and local trips [and] where students go off campus to perform services such as construction with Habitat for Humanity, beach cleanups or farm work,” Stout said. “Then in the spring over spring break, we go to another state to partner with an organization there to do volunteer work for the whole week.”

ASBO has taken trips to Ft. Lauderdale, F.L., New Orleans, L.A., Houston, T.X., Pasadena, C.A. and several other locations since its inception. 

This spring semester, the group traveled to Georgetown, D.E., partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build low-income housing. Stout shared that while the trip is incredibly rewarding, the planning process comes with challenges, specifically when it comes to accommodating a large number of students with housing and food. 

“We have to find an organization that can provide volunteer work for 35 students and also provide the insurance coverage that the school requires,” she said. “For this we typically reach out to about 150 organizations, meet with about 30 and then choose one from there. We also have to find housing that can support 35 students, with enough beds, bathrooms and showers, that can also give us a common area for group activities and a way to cook food.”

Stout added that finding transportation for such a large group was difficult, and planning food options for a group with diverse dietary needs was also a challenge. She then discussed the group’s goal of lowering trip costs to make volunteering more accessible, noting that this can be difficult.

“Our goal this year was to have a cheaper trip than in previous years, in order to make volunteering as accessible as possible, so we chose a more local location,” Stout said. “Typically, students pay one fee to us that covers all housing, food and transportation. We do this in different rounds of payment so it isn’t too much of a burden at one time, and we also work with students to develop payment plans if they need to.”

Stout explained the group’s previous trip in 2024 to Ft. Lauderdale, F.L. had cost $575, which prevented some students from attending. 

“Because we want to make volunteering as accessible as possible, we tried to lower the price this year. This year, the trip was $300, but moving forward I think it will be difficult to keep it at that price just because as prices of everything increase, it becomes harder and harder for us to complete our mission. We also want to vary trip locations every year to allow students to go on multiple trips, and some locations are just more expensive than others,” Stout said. 

Raine Wu, a sophomore majoring in psychology and an ABSO member, shared her experience on the trip in an email to The Statesman.

“The spring break trip to Delaware this year was so much fun,” Wu wrote. “We had safety training on the first day because it rained and to get us acquainted with the tools we’d be using, but we usually worked from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a 30-minute lunch break at 12 p.m. in between. We also got a half day to explore Delaware on our own, so we’d break up into several car groups to go to a cafe, thrift, and then a beach.” 

Margaret Rose, a junior studying nursing, explained in an email that the group’s time at work was usually spent woodworking.

“We were tasked with building a future home for an incredibly deserving family in need,” she wrote. “Once we arrived, most of our time was spent on woodworking; we measured, cut, and assembled the exterior walls, interior walls, foundation, and flooring.”

After the work day was complete, the group came together for dinner and reflections. 

“During these nightly reflections we had the opportunity to participate in a variety of bonding activities where we had the chance to ruminate on how we could use what we had learned to better ourselves and our communities,” Rose wrote. “Each reflection increased in sensitivity and profundity throughout the week, so rest assured by our last reflection there was not a dry eye in the room.” 

Additionally, the group took part in a secret gift exchange over spring break. Members were tasked with writing sweet messages throughout the trip to give to one another as keepsakes.

“I had an amazing time doing meaningful work and getting to know 34 strangers,” Wu wrote. “It was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I appreciated every second of it. As someone who has kind of lived in a bubble all her life, it was exciting to put myself out there.” 

Similarly, Rose highlighted the importance of the connections she made during her time with ASBO.

“Although cliché, my favorite part of ASBO is the people,” Rose wrote. “Never in my 20 years of life have I met such an insightful, brilliant, and selfless group of people. The ASBO events are wonderful and the spring break trip was life-changing, but it’s the people that make ASBO what it is.”