Are you interested in something more than a service day? Well, look no further! Sharks and Service Trips, SAS, are designed for Sharks who are looking for a meaningful service that is a weekend or week long experience. Each SAS trip gives students the opportunity to learn and serve with a different social issue and community. In past years, students have traveled to Key West, Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Negril, Jamaica. Take some time and look through the past service trip experiences SLCE has offered and think about applying to a trip!
These SAS trips are a great a really great way to get involved and give back to the local and global community, but don’t take our word for it. Check out what our SAS Trip Leaders had to say about their experiences on a SAS trip here!
Sharks and Service is an alternative break program that works to address social issues through collaborative community partnerships, meaningful service, transformative education, and reflective dialogue.
For more information about our programs core values, please click the headers below:
The core value of leadership relates to both the Site Leaders and the participants leadership journey. As Student Site Leaders, you are apart of the trip planning process from pre-trip decision making, facilitating group discussions during the trip, and reorientation back to the university community upon completion of the trip. Student Site Leaders will lead conversations that educate the participants on the specific social issue that you will be serving during your trip and help to making meaning of the service throughout the trip.
Student participants also gain valuable leadership skills throughout a SAS experience. Through the leadership of the Student Site Leaders, participants learn to effectively communicate with community affiliates and work collaboratively with other participants to complete tasks. These are useful skills that students will take with them well beyond the SAS experience.
Community serves two major roles in SAS trips: building community among trip participants and serving a community.
SAS trips encourage community among the trip participants. While each participant brings different experiences and knowledge to the trip, serving along side each other for the duration of the trip allows them to identify a common bond they will always share. SAS trips help to bridge connections and build friendships, even after the completion of the trip.
Each SAS trip serves a different community. Participants entering this community learn about the cultural norms and the issues facing these communities. They learn to respect the community and realize that although they may just be visiting for a short period of time, they have the ability to make a larger impact on this community.
For more information about our past trips and where we served click on the links below:
The October Weekend SAS trip will be spent volunteering with Deliver the Dream in Orlando, FL. Participants will have the opportunity to volunteer at an overnight retreat working with LBGTQ Youth. This weekend will be structured as a retreat that provides structured, therapeutic, and family-centered activities that inspire hope, strengthen relationships, and change perspectives for families living with similar circumstances.
Social Issue: LGBT+ Youth
ExEL Unit Eligible: No
Application Open: August 23, 2019
This traditional trip to New Orleans, LA focuses on hurricane relief post Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers will be serving with Youth Rebuilding New Orleans which serves to engage youth in the betterment of the New Orleans Community. Volunteers help reduce blight by rebuilding distressed and foreclosed homes. The finished homes are sold to teachers to stabilize neighborhoods and positively impact the education system.
Social Issue: Hurricane Relief
ExEL Unit Eligible: Yes, 1 unit
Application Open: October 1, 2019
Participants will be traveling to Houston TX to assist with hurricane relief efforts post Hurricane Harvey 2017. Volunteers will be partnering with All Hands and Hearts to effectively address the immediate and long-term needs of the community impacted by a natural disaster. The success of this agency is rooted in the smart response equation: Response, Recover, Resilience, Renewal.
Social Issue: Hurricane Relief
ExEL Unit Eligible: Yes, 1 Unit
Application Open: October 1, 2019
Social Issue: Immigration
ExEL Unit Eligible: No
Application Open: November 1
Participants will be traveling to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to assist with sustainable community development efforts. Students will participate in specially designed for humanitarian projects to help poor community of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in a stove and chicken coop building project. Volunteers will be partnering with the organizations Cultural Connections Volunteers.
Social Issue: Sustainable Community Development
ExEL Unit Eligible: Yes, 1 unit
Application Open: November 1
Participants will be traveling to Chattanooga, Tennessee to assist with trail construction and maintenance for the Cumberland Trails Conference. Volunteers will be partnering with the Cumber Trails Conference to continue development and maintenance of the Cumberland Trail to ultimately extend 300 miles.
Social Issue: Environmental
ExEL Unit Eligible: Yes, 1 unit
Application Open: November 1
Trip Canceled for May 2020
Participants will have the opportunity to travel and serve in Asheville, North Carolina. The focus of this trip is Nutrition and Food Insecurity. Students will be working with the YMCA of Western North Carolina to provide access to affordable and nutritious food. Participants will assist in the community distributing from Healthy Living Mobile Markets, cooking demonstrations and valuable nutrition information.
Social Issue: Nutrition & Food Insecurity
ExEL Unit Eligible: Yes, 1 unit
Application Open: December 1