Alternative Winter Break 2009 in South Florida was filled with many life changing experiences for everyone involved.  For me personally, the most moving part of the trip was the last day, when a group of us went to a beach/environmental center and helped the workers plant trees and clear the beach from trash and unwanted plants. 
 
One of our tasks for the day was to pot little Sea Grape seedlings so they could be planted in various places along the beach in order to help prevent coastal erosion, which is a huge problem in South Florida. 
 
After working for hours to plant over 200 of these Sea Grapes, our guide, Juan, pointed out to me that the huge tree we had been standing under all day - that had been providing all of us shade from the burning sun - was in fact a fully grown Sea Grape tree.  I had no idea the little leaves we had been planting were going to grow up to be something so big and strong and important to the local ecosystem.   
 
I was overcome with emotion and pride when I realized the huge impact our efforts were going to have on the local terrain.  Later in the day as we walked out onto the beach to begin planting various other plants, Juan continued to point out to me the huge Sea Grape trees that dominated the landscape all across the beach.  It was incredible to realize that we had played such a big role in continuing this trend and that our hard work truly would make a difference. 
 
Before we left, one of the local workers offered me a leaf from a fully grown Sea Grape tree, telling me to write my name and the occasion on it in a permanent marker, and that the leaf would dry and it could be a keepsake I could have to remember this day for years to come.  Even without this reminder, I know I will never forget the day that I felt like I could see the difference I was making in the world, one small Sea Grape at a time. 

Thank You from Feeding South Florida

Dear AWB Staff,
 
I cannot thank you enough for spending two days with us here at Feeding South Florida. I hope the students learned the importance of food banking, and will take the service they learned back to their own schools!
 
They were such a big help to us, especially with the upcoming launch of our teacher's store. If you need anything from us, just let me know.

Jennifer M. Wescott
Volunteer Coordinator
Feeding South Florida 

SIGN UP FOR YOUNG JUDAEA'S NATIONAL MIDWINTER CONVENTION IN TEXAS!

Alternative Winter Break: no other word can describe it, but outstanding!  My name is Daniel Silverstein and before AWB I had never taken part in any Young Judea event.  Going into the program, I was a little scared of what the experience would be like.  I didn't know who would be there and what the kids would be like.  This scared me, but when I arrived at the airport I was greeted by two smiling counselors who welcomed me into Young Judaea and AWB.  I found myself having a good time almost immediately!  The kids were funny and fun to be around; I even found the counselors fun to be around.  Then the volunteering began.

The volunteering proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I spent my first day at the Ronald McDonald House, a place for children with life-threatening illnesses.  Here we played with young children recovering from illness or surgery.  One of my most vivid memories from the trip comes from the Ronald McDonald House.  I had been playing with a young girl who was extremely funny.  She would continuously reject my offers of friendship by saying, "I ain't your friend," to the laughter of my friends.  I eventually convinced her to be my friend by making her a cookie with icing in the shape of a heart.  When it was time for us to leave the little girl broke into tears and asked us to stay. 

Naturally we could not stay because of our schedule, but this young girl's tears moved me.  It showed me how much of a difference we had made in her day, how happy she was when we were playing with her, and how sad she was that we were leaving.  As the week continued, the AWB group volunteered at many other places including, The Salvation Army, The Hebrew Home, a hospital, Virginia Key beach, and Feeding South Florida.  At each of these volunteer sites, my friends and I made an obvious impact that was apparent on the faces of the people we helped.  Their look of happiness gave me pleasure and knowledge that I really was making a difference.  Juan, the manager at Virginia Key beach, was ecstatic after our two hard days of spreading mulch, removing unwanted weeds, and replacing them with new, indigenous trees and shrubbery.

Although I was hesitant at first, Alternative Winter Break turned out to be an amazing experience. Not only did volunteering for AWB make me feel good, but also my actions made other people happy and made a difference to the community of South Florida.  I made friendships that I hope will last a long time and created a relationship with Young Judaea that I plan on furthering.  I would definitely go on AWB again!

Feeding South Florida is an organization that provides food and other supplies to not-for-profit food banks and other organizations, helping them to feed the hungry people in the South Florida area.

When we arrived there on the last day of service on our trip, they showed us a huge warehouse (that could have been mistaken for a Costco), filled with food and busy people moving it around.  While the others stayed there to sort cans, six of us went out of the warehouse and into a separate room that was slowly becoming like a miniature Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart had donated some of its old racks and a ton of merchandise, but the problem was that it had not yet been sorted and put onto the shelves.  When the "store" is ready, teachers who usually have to buy all the supplies for their classrooms will be able to come and take anything they want for free.  There were carts filled with random items: folders, erasers, tape, rulers, toys... and boxes filled with random pencils and pens.

Our job was to pretty much make the place look like a real store.  We started immediately.  It was actually really fun! We played around with all the crazy pens there were, and I was pretty much convinced that working at Wal-Mart would be the best job ever.  By the end of the day, the progress we had made was visible.  The place looked amazing with hardly any carts and boxes left to empty.

Even though this type of service was not personal and direct to the people we were helping, it still felt really good.  It made me so grateful for my own education, and excited that these teachers would not have to deal with the stress of buying nice supplies for their students.  I know that the store will make a huge difference for tons of teachers in South Florida!

Thank You from Virginia Key Beach

• transplanted a total of 200 seedling of Sea grape and wild Lime, native plants
• cleaned and removed weeds in a area of 2550 square feet
• tied a total of 120 native trees in 3 gallon pots
• planted a native Scaevola in dune ecosystem and other native plants in the Coastal hammock
• transplanted a total of 20 native trees from 3 gallon pots to 5 gallon pots
• relocated a total of 60 wild coffee and 81 Gumbo limbos

Parks Naturalist Senior

Helping Haiti

Yesterday afternoon, a massive 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, ten miles West of Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital. As participants on AWB learned, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and as a result, the recent disaster is likely to exacerbate the dire situation already faced by so many Haitians, 80% of whom live in poverty.

AWB worked closely with many members of the Haitian community in South Florida, many of whom have family and friends directly affected by the quake.

In an effort to help alleviate some of the suffering caused by the earthquake, the American Jewish World Service has set up a disaster relief fund, which you can contribute to here. No amount is too small, click here to give.

To read about aid Israel is sending to Haiti, click here.