The VOLbreaks program exemplifies the mission of the Jones Center for Leadership and Service through engaging students with communities outside of their own and supporting the people and nonprofit organizations making positive change. Each semester, trips introduce Vols to the needs and cultures of American cities and prepare students to return to Knoxville equipped with the knowledge to support community partners.
Thirty-six students participated in three spring trips, selling out registration for the first time since the pandemic. Trips traveled to support disaster relief efforts in Asheville, NC, gain insight into youth development initiatives in Chicago, IL, and participate in public health work in Washington, D.C.
Disaster Relief in Asheville, NC
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, VOLbreaks students served organizations championing collective efforts to uplift their community. The university’s Center for Basic Needs kindly sponsored the trip. Blake Weiss, director of the Center for Basic Needs and a long-time supporter of the VOLbreaks program, eagerly partnered with the Jones Center to enhance efforts to improve basic needs access in the Asheville area.
“This week has been filled with moments of joy, grief, surprise, love, but most of all feelings of connection and community,” said Jennifer Pierce Thomas, an associate director in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the trip’s staff learning partner. As an Asheville native, she felt immediately connected to the mission. “The stories we heard were heartbreaking but also filled with so much hope and resiliency.”
The group attended a community dinner hosted by Marshall Relief Alliance, which regularly offers free meals to community members affected by the disaster and to volunteers supporting relief efforts. Later, they met with two community members—one representing the federal response to the hurricane and one working for a nonprofit organization—to listen to their firsthand experiences during the storm and the recovery.
Students collaborated with the MANNA Food Bank in their new facility that recently reopened after their original building was destroyed. They packaged over 2,500 meals to be distributed to school children to feed their families over the weekend. Later, the group visited the YMI Cultural Center, formerly the Young Men’s Institute. It is one of the oldest cultural centers in America, and the executive director, Rev. Sean Hasker Palmer, discussed their mission with the students. He detailed the history of the Black community in Asheville, the purpose of the institute’s founding, and Hurricane Helene’s disproportionate impact on marginalized groups.
On Tuesday, the group returned to Marshall Relief Alliance to serve. Half of the students cleared dirt and debris from the basement of a coffee shop to prepare for their reopening next month. The other half assisted with various beautification projects in town. Later, students helped at the Appalachian Community Relief free store and food bank—a grassroots community effort that emerged out of necessity after the hurricane. They spoke with the founder to learn more about the nonprofit’s beginning and their immediate response to support Asheville residents.
Students prepared and packaged nutritious meals at the Equal Plates Project and picked up trash along the French Broad River with RiverLink. The group enjoyed the lively outdoor environments across Asheville, despite the damage sustained in the storm, and visited various parks and botanical gardens.
They took a 1.8-mile hike early in the week to enjoy the local environment and observe the hurricane’s accelerated erosion effects. To conclude the trip, the group took an awareness walk downtown and through the River Arts District. They reserved time to shop in the River Arts District to support local artists and businesses.
“The most impactful thing was the power of community,” VOLbreaks participant Sara Martin said. “In the first few days, it was just them relying neighbor on neighbor because they didn’t have connections to the rest of the world. Once they did regain that connection, the community only grew stronger.”
Youth Development in Chicago, IL
The VOLbreaks trip to Chicago emphasized the importance of tailored initiatives for young people to support their growth. The group began their trip by exploring Chicago to discover the city’s history, culture, and architecture.
They met with Patrick Angelaccio, an elementary school social worker and Jones Center alum, to learn more about the needs of local children and tour the school. He detailed the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in his work, explaining how a child’s home life is the baseline of physiological needs and underlining the importance of supporting families.
“It was so eye-opening to see the drastic differences between the neighborhoods within Chicago and how their youth development practices and programs may differ,” said Isabella Bartolini, one of the VOLbreaks Leaders (VBLs). “Socioeconomic status plays a deep role in determining what resources are available to which areas.”
Students served with Cardz for Kidz to sort greeting cards to be sent to various organizations, including a Chicago nonprofit they served with later in the week. At the Chicago Furniture Bank, the group built couches to go to families in need, helping to provide a safe and welcoming home environment.
Several group members agreed that one of the most impactful experiences was collaborating with After School Matters. As Chicago’s premier after-school program, After School Matters works with organizations across the city to invest in students and provide funding for special projects. The trip’s members toured their building and heard about their mission, then shared about college life with the program’s teenagers.
“We got to see their community, how their life was, and how school was for them,” said program participant Ella Ackmann. “They were excited to have visitors. It was exciting to connect with them and see the smiles on their faces.”
The trip impacted over 900 students with their service at Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides clothing, hygiene products, and school supplies to K-12 students to meet their basic needs. They prioritize accepting high-quality donations to preserve dignity and encourage confidence in the children they serve. At Reading in Motion, the group met with the program’s executive director and supported their first Read-A-Thon by writing inspirational cards about their favorite books to motivate students to get involved.
On Saturday, students spoke with a district superintendent about the culture and community surrounding the schools. They saw the five-year plan to get an idea of the planning and projects behind youth development initiatives. Several trip participants noted the importance of a local community center in their ongoing efforts to support young people. The center hosts recreational spaces, computer labs, and a free clothing store, but one of its most profound values is how it unites locals to support its youth. One VOLbreak leader mentioned that two community members come to the center weekly to offer laundry services to the children and their families, providing a needed resource and valuable help.
To VBL Matthew Billings, it exemplifies the importance of community service and the VOLbreaks program, too. “It’s about doing the best you can to understand the needs and showing up to do them wholeheartedly,” said Billings.
Public Health in Washington, D.C.
The trip’s service and excursion sites are intentionally planned by VBLs, designed to educate and engage students in new communities and explore diverse aspects of the chosen theme. The purpose of being a VBL extends beyond the planning, though.
“[It] gives students the opportunity to introduce new concepts to their peers and give fellow students materials to build a relationship with their community,” said Shawn Hoppes, one of the trip’s leaders.
The Washington, D.C. VOLbreak brought together themes from former trips under one umbrella to engage 12 students with a shared passion for public health. The group served an array of nonprofit organizations supporting food insecurity and health education initiatives in the area, while benefiting from educational opportunities from local museums and community leaders.
“I am a public health minor, and I’ve learned a lot about it in the classroom,” said Sara Martin, a student on the trip. “That setting is completely different in real life. Being on the frontlines with nonprofit organizations that are the only ones helping certain populations, you see that there are people doing everything they can to help. The only way to truly help is to humble yourself and go into the community. Being able to take a neutral stance going in, you learn so much from talking to people firsthand.”
The D.C. Central Kitchen introduced participants to food insecurity in the context of Washington, D.C. There, students experienced the efficient processes that allow the kitchen to serve its community effectively, and prepared food to send to charter schools and homeless shelters. Another organization, Food & Friends, explored the importance of utilizing food as medicine and tailored their meals to the unique needs of those receiving them. Students stepped in to organize groceries and prepare meals for distribution.
Hands on Hearts, an organization that partners with local fire departments to provide CPR, AED, and Naloxone training, taught students about the importance of educating themselves on lifesaving measures through the lens of relevant statistics.
The group toured the original headquarters of the American Red Cross, then explored the National Mall to reap the city’s educational benefits. Later, students examined the value and purpose of community farming at Common Good City Farms and sorted through donated food at Bread for the City. They received a tour from one of Bread for the City’s directors to learn about their mission and explore various facilities they offer, including a fitness center and primary care clinic. The breadth of organizations visited exposed students to the breadth of public health as an overarching discipline.
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“VOLbreaks is a transformative experience that develops your leadership skills to facilitate critical thinking skills like organizing educational opportunities, communicating with non-profit organizations, building cooperative relations with other leaders, and guiding fellow students into engaging, multi-layered dialogues,” McKenzie Nguyen, a trip leader, said. “Dedication to VOLbreaks allows for the Volunteer spirit to spread not only within the community, but advance new approaches and methods to grand challenges that can be studied and applied in different fields of life.”
Students returned from the trips inspired to continue their missions in the Knoxville community and support broader change initiatives. VOLbreaks is a powerful tool to revolutionize perspectives, and we look forward to the continued growth of the VOLbreaks program and its longstanding traditions.