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CAITLIN VANSCOTT

Changing Spring Break Stereotypes

by Daniel Rubin

Helping the less fortunate comes naturally to Caitlin VanScott. This sophomore at the College of Charleston has been participating in charity programs since she was young. She was a member and contributor to numerous organizations and programs in her home town of Greenville, N.C., and she is now heavily involved in the Alternative Spring Break program at the College of Charleston.

While most students use their Spring Break to do anything but help others; Caitlin and other students choose to do something much more constructive and worthwhile. They go to struggling communities and work on specified projects that help enhance the general well-being of the community at large. Last year, the inaugural year of the ASB program, Caitlin traveled to Boone, N.C. where she and others worked with the Shelter Rock Organization to provide poverty relief and help with environmental rebuilding. This year with the growth of the program Caitlin and other students will travel to La Roma, Dominican Republic where they will assist in building a much needed hospital for the community.

Hometown: Greenville, North Carolina
Degree Objective: Biology
Expected Graduation: May 2007

What volunteer activities are you currently involved in?
I am involved in the Alternative Spring Break Program. I went to Boone, N.C. last year and this year I am going to the Dominican Republic. I also am an active member of the Campus Crusade for Christ.

What are you most proud of contributing to your organizations? The trip to Mexico and giving this family their first house, because they had six kids and had been living on the streets, and they were so grateful.

Previous volunteer experience? I have been going to homeless shelters and volunteering for years. When I was in high school a group of us went to Mexico where we helped build a house for a family who had never had one before and were able to meet the family and actually give them the house. And I have done missionary work as well.

What do you enjoy most about community service? Meeting the people who you help.

What is your most memorable volunteer experience? In 2000 when Hurricane Floyd came through the North Carolina, most of the homes in Greenville were flooded or destroyed. Almost my entire school worked with the Red Cross to hand out food and clothing. It was different from other volunteer work I have done because the people we were helping were our neighbors.

How do you think your friends and family would describe you? Hopefully with good things. I guess they'd say that I am caring and I stay calm most of the time, even in tense situations.

THE VOLUNTEER SPIRIT THE VOLUNTEER SPIRIT THE VOLUNTEER SPIRIT