Illinois State students make Redbird impact on Alternative Spring Break service trips
Author
By Lyndsie Schlink
March 18, 2022
Junior Dareya Ellis, left, and senior philosophy major Annellia Pierce roll tires along the barge as they work to clean up McKellar Lake in Memphis with Living Lands & Waters.
Three Illinois State groups, composed of 62 students and five trip leaders, traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami, Florida, March 7–11 for the Center for Civic Engagement’s annual Alternative Spring Break service trips.
One group of Redbirds worked with Little Masters Academy in Miami. Their service consisted of working with the kids at the school and beautifying the school buildings, which included installing wood chips at the newly built preschool, staining treehouses, gardening, and cleaning up the sidewalks.
On the Honors trip to Memphis, the group was hosted by Serve901. The group worked with Jacob’s Ladder, Lifeline to Success, Mid-south Food Bank, and Believe Memphis Academy. All their service was focused on community development, including affordable housing, equity in education, food insecurity, and making Memphis a more equitable place to live and work.
Illinois State senior photographer Lyndsie Schlink served as one of the advisors for a separate trip to Memphis where a 17-member group worked with Living Lands & Waters to pick up over 850 bags of trash, specifically glass, plastics, Styrofoam, and tires, from McKellar Lake. The following is a snapshot of the experiences those Redbirds had serving Memphis.
From left, trip leader Cassidy Devine, a freshman management major, Annellia Pierce, a senior philosophy major, and Kaylan Boyd-Harris, a creative technologies graduate student, pass tires down the line as the group works to move over 250 tires from one barge to the other.
Trip leader Anna Raymond, a senior sociology major, carries two bags of recyclables across the barge.
Foreground, Klaudia Krei, a junior social work major, and Natalie English, a sophomore secondary history and social science teacher education major, move tires closer to the large pile across the barge.
Senior philosophy major Annellia Pierce designs her team’s flag for their boat.
Computer science graduate student Jay Dev, left, and Maina Ibn Mohammed ’21 carry a piece of garbage they found on the lakeshore toward the garbage boat.
Nutrition graduate student Sarah Vasilopolous picks up recyclables along the shore of McKellar Lake.
Senior philosophy major Annellia Pierce, center left, passes a bag of recyclables to computer science graduate student Jay Dev on the barge.
Multicultural Center graduate assistant Davida Boron rolls a tire she found on the shore of McKellar Lake toward the garbage boat.
Junior social work major Klaudia Krei picks up plastics along the shoreline of McKellar Lake.
Junior social work major Sarah Kraft tosses a bag or recyclables onto the garbage boat.
During the four days of cleanup at McKellar Lake, the students searched each day to find the best piece of garbage to represent their boat. On Thursday, March 10, they competed for the top three pieces of garbage to earn trophies.
Foreground, junior recreation management major Joy Penney and sophomore biochemistry major Faith Breausche dance across the barge with a bag of recyclables on the last day of cleanup.
The group is pictured with more than 850 bags of recyclables they picked up in four days from McKellar Lake.
