(Our hearts become less empty the more we give away.)
The Center for Leadership and Service at the University of Florida
PDCSC is a community partner!
PDCSC Annual Spring Break Mission Trip!
Every year during UF spring break, PDCSC takes a group of 12-15 college students on a week-long service trip. This past year, 2008, we took a group of 10 to Tucson, AZ to work with a humanitarian organization called Humane Borders. Humane Borders is a faith-based organization that provides humanitarian assistance to those in need through more than 70 emergency stations on and near the U.S.-Mexican border.
For spring break 2007, we traveled to New York City to do urban
ministry with the Youth Service Opportunities Project.
YSOP is a Quaker organization dedicated to social justice and service.
Our group volunteered in soup kitchens, homeless shelters and community
centers. The cost to students for the whole week was only $150, plus
some extra food costs.
Rebuild Gainesville is a local non-profit founded and run by student center alumni and students! Rebuild Gainesville repairs the homes of our neighbors in need. The organization's mission is to eliminate the problem of substandard housing on the local level. Teams of college students from all over the U.S. work year-round on a variety of projects, including interior and exterior renovations, even roof repair! No experience is necessary - only a willingness to make the world a better place.
To join a team of PDCSC students working with Rebuild Gainesville, contact David Dean.
Our good friend Carlene Brock collects empty aluminum cans from our center and donates the money she gets from recycling to Heifer International. Every time you buy a drink from our soda machine and put the empty can in one of our recycling bins, you're helping to provide a needy family with a stable source of income and food. "Ending Hunger - Caring for the Earth."
We collect the tabs off of our aluminum cans and save them for donation to the Ronald McDonald House. "Providing a 'home away from home' for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals."
Paint the Town Green Project
Our newest service brain-child sprang out of our Theology on Tap program. Apparently, the local bars in the downtown area can't get city recycling service, so they throw much of their recyclable material (beer bottles and cans) away. We're planning to collect cans and bottles from several locations (beginning with Stubbie's Pub!) a few times a week, to take them to the city recycling center.