For St. Patrick’s Day 2009, I’m shaving my head.  And so are many of my friends and classmates.

And no, vast quantities of Guinness have nothing to do with it.

We are participating in a St. Baldrick’s Foundation event to raise funds for childhood cancer research.  Participants will either shave their heads or donate their hair to make wigs for a child in need.

Since its inception in 2000, St. Baldrick’s has raised more than $50 million and grown into the world’s largest fundraising event for childhood cancer. Worldwide 160,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer each year and despite tremendous progress, cancer remains the top disease killer of children in the U.S. and Canada.

My medical school class at Tulane University School of Medicine has the goal of beating last year’s event, which raised over $63,000. We’re well on our way, but we need your support.

The Student Doctor Network is currently sponsoring SDN membership for those who donate to the St. Baldrick’s foundation.  To get an SDN subscription, you will need to donate that subscription amount or higher to St. Baldrick’s.  For example, Gold status is $45 for one year or $75 for two years, so if you make a $75 donation to St. Baldrick’s, you will get a two year Gold status membership to SDN.

The link to donate is here (click on photo on the page): http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-64188

In order to obtain your SDN membership, please email the receipt you receive from St. Baldrick’s to Anna@studentdoctor.net.  You must request an email receipt at the time of donation.

While battling cancer, children may lose not only their hair, but years of their childhood, and sometimes their lives. In comparison to their struggle, cutting my hair is a small sacrifice, and the money raised will make a difference for children with cancer now and in the future.

Beyond the money raised, my medical school class is banding together for this cause to show solidarity and support for the children and families affected by childhood cancer here in New Orleans and across the country.

So, I am asking you to help me raise as much money and awareness as I can for the foundation to fund as much research as possible!   Please donate now.

Alternative Spring Break Participants

by Bacchus
SDN Moderator

Sunscreen, check.

Flip-flops and toothbrush, check.

Camera, check.

Steel-toed boots, check.

The last item may seem peculiar, but for those of you who are familiar with an Alternative Spring Break (ASB), those boots are a must.

What is an Alternative Spring Break?

Alternative Spring Break trips can take many forms and be completed for numerous causes, but they all stem from one goal: Dedicating as much time as possible helping others.

ASB originated in the 1980’s  as an unconventional vacation from the college semester. By the early 1990’s, the popularity of the “Alternatives” was growing, and was booming by the end of the decade.

Growing curiosity and participation in the new millennium is attributed to the collegiate emphasis on volunteerism and national disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In fact, 36,000 individuals participated in ASB during the spring 2006 semester.

How One Week Can Make a Difference

So you might be asking yourself, “Why should I participate?” I’ll describe my experiences later, but let’s look at this on a large scale.

Most collegiate groups, such as those organized by Habitat for Humanity, follow a strict daily schedule, dedicating between five to seven days from the early morning to late afternoon. So, even though you are only working anywhere from 30 to 60 hours during your spring break, your group is racking up a lot more time on-site and the work completed is remarkable.

In the case of Habitat, a group can erect the frame of a house in a few days and the following week’s group can get it dry-walled. At this pace, the house is finished in relatively little time.

Disaster relief projects also accomplish significant amounts of work because of the volume of volunteers.

My Alternative Spring Break Experiences

I participated in three Alternative Spring Breaks  - my freshman, sophomore, and junior years in college. The experiences were different, but each was rewarding.

The first trip was to Waveland, Mississippi, a small community that suffered tremendous loss after Hurricane Katrina. The town was literally wiped off the map, but Community Collaborations and the Morrell Foundation pledged to help the community.

The following year I participated in a Habitat for Humanity project restoring a home in rural Virginia.

I concluded my ASB experiences with a Habitat project in Sabine Pass, Texas. Sabine Pass was still recovering from Hurricane Rita and I worked to finish a home there.

Of the three amazing experiences, Waveland reconstruction was the most heart-wrenching and life-altering one. A several mile strip of beach had nothing left on it except debris.

iCare Village

The iCare Village, erected and sponsored by the Morrell Foundation, proved pivotal aid work for the area. I stayed in the Village for an entire week, living out of an Army surplus tent from the Korean War. It wasn’t the best accommodations, but it was equivalent to what many residents were living in. Others lived in the infamous FEMA trailers.

The week I spent in Waveland, iCare had roughly 80 to 100 college volunteers. The following week they were expecting more than 300. Our first day, we worked on the iCare Village site preparing for the next week’s volunteers.

Debris from Hurricane Katrina

The following day we cleaned a half-mile stretch of beach. Half a mile doesn’t seem like much, but by the end of the day we had four towering piles of debris, one of which was the remains of a beach bungalow. The work was painstaking, but our spirits stayed high.

The highlight of the week for me was working with Ms. Melanie. She taught us all the importance of a positive attitude. Melanie lost everything she owned, but was the most upbeat person I met the entire week, facing adversity with tenacity and Southern charm.

She was living across the street from her home in what she called the FEMA Palace. Inside, it wasn’t much bigger than a dorm room. Her husband, son, and dog lived with her.

When I arrived on site at what was her home I was speechless. It never fully sunk in that I was standing on top of someone’s life. Her home was destroyed to the foundation with only the fireplace remaining standing.

To this day I am in contact with Melanie. I can still hear her saying, after helping her, “Y’all come back when we have a house here. Thank you so much.”

Luckily for me, I got to visit Melanie on a follow-up trip that summer. I learned on that trip we also helped her sister! It was emotional to know we helped a community that lost it all.

Options for Alternative Spring Breaks

Campfire during an Alternative Spring Break experience

My challenge is for you to volunteer one of your spring breaks through an Alternative Spring Break program. You’ll be helping a deserving community and yourself by opening your eyes to those in need. You’ll also get a chance to meet excellent people.

This isn’t an ordinary volunteer experience. It may even get you the tan you want for the upcoming summer months!

Below are a couple of places for you to get started.

Habitat for Humanity
Habitat doesn’t require a cross country trip nor does it require a large amount of money. For those of you in a major metropolitan area, your city most likely has ongoing Habitat projects or other service group projects to benefit the community. These require less fundraising and planning but allow you to contribute to the community, an activity many people don’t do.
http://www.habitat.org

Community Collaborations International
If fundraising and planning are things you enjoy, the opportunities are endless. Organizations such as Community Collaborations International operate volunteer activities nationally and internationally. International trips include locations such as Costa Rica and China. The amount of planning by the campus organization for trips such as these is immense, but thousands of students each year participate.
http://www.communitycollaborations.org

Morrell Foundation
The Morrell Foundation is dedicated to providing hope and assistance, to people across the world who have been affected by natural disaster, armed conflict or poverty, through a wide variety of programs and volunteer coordination.
http://www.morrellfoundation.org

Break Away
The Break Away website details options for Alternative Spring Break experiences.
http://www.alternativebreaks.org/

If you’re interested in ASB planning, tips, or learning more information about the experiences in this article, contact Bacchus by PM on the Student Doctor Network forums.