Lyndsey Marshall spends winter break volunteering in New Orleans

2017 Mar 24

Lyndsey Marshall of Warren is one of 29 caring Baldwin Wallace University students who gave up 2016 winter break to make a difference through the BW Alternative Break service program. The program facilitated four diverse community engagement projects during the 2016 fall semester with student volunteers traveling to Detroit over Thanksgiving break and to San Antonio, New Orleans and Chicago over winter break. A total of 37 students participated, and each experience was led by a BW student with a University faculty or staff adviser providing support.

Marshall, a graduate of Warren G. Harding High School majoring in mathematics, volunteered to take part in the first BW Fraternity and Sorority Life Alternative Break experience to help with hurricane relief in New Orleans. The outreach was in partnership with lowernine.org, a nonprofit that is helping to restore and rebuild homes in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. The BW senior learned how to paint, mix and lay cement, take nails out of wood, measure and cut pieces of wood, and use power tools. The students explored where the levee broke during Katrina, saw the damage that still remains and met with Lower Ninth Ward residents to hear about the neighborhood pre- and post-Katrina. The students also had the opportunity to visit The French Market, Cafe Du Mont and enjoy local cuisine. Marshall also served as the trip leader with support from staff adviser Marc West.

The BW Alternative Break service program provides students with opportunities to make a difference, travel to another area, learn new skills and meet people with similar interests. Participants commit to a six-week, pre-trip curriculum including issue education, organization orientation, team building and a full-day retreat on social justice and cultural competency. Alternative Break is one of many community service programs organized by the David & Frances Brain Center for Community Engagement to support BW's mission of empowering students to become contributing, compassionate citizens. Community groups interested in partnering with BW can contact the Center at 440-826-2403 or BrainCenter@bw.edu.