GT
Gabriela Taveras
  • Lawrence, MA

Gabriela Taveras Participates in Emmanuel's Boston-based Alternative Spring Break

2016 Mar 16

During the week of March 7th, Gabriela Taveras and 15 other Emmanuel students participated in the College's annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) in Boston, Massachusetts, learning about, connecting with and taking positive action in the community in which they live and learn. ASB is a week-long, faith-based service trip held during the College's traditional spring break that bridges volunteer work with education and reflection on larger social issues.

For the third year, the Boston group stayed at the College's Notre Dame Campus in Roxbury and focused on food justice and access, which seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where, what and how food is grown, produced, transported, distributed, accessed and eaten are shared fairly. Students also learned about the history and demographics of Boston and how to work with the community to move forward.

The group completed service projects with local organizations such as Community Servings, Rosie's Place, St. Francis House, the Food Project, ReVision Urban Farm and the Greater Boston Food Bank. As part of the Notre Dame Campus' Urban Food Project, the group also planted herb and vegetable seedlings for the campus' urban garden, the harvest of which is shared with neighborhood organizations. As the Urban Food Project also focuses on education, the group hosted a presentation by Share Our Strength's "Cooking Matters" program and conducted an educational workshop on healthy eating at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission Grammar School.