14 students and two administrators will perform community service and visit spiritual sites in Philadelphia over fall pause, in what will be the first of five Service Trips organized by the Center for Service, Spirituality and Social Justice (CSSS) for the 2014-2015 school year.

Service Trip leader Faith Park ’16 said that service trips allow students to spend their breaks meeting new people in the Dickinson community and helping others in need. Each trip takes a group of students to a community where they perform community service for periods ranging from four days to a week.

During Dickinson’s Fall Pause from Oct. 16 to 20, the Interfaith Service Group will head to Philadelphia to complete community service projects.

According to Shayna Solomon ’16, one of two student leaders for the Interfaith trip, student volunteers will stay at the Arch St. UMC church in Philadelphia, and will likely volunteer at a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, a food packaging charity and an urban farm. They will also visit places of worship such as a mosque, a synagogue and a Buddhist temple.

“The trip aims to focus on reflection and deeper engagement with service,” said Solomon. “We explore values and discuss differing perspectives. The trip offers a sampler of service projects [and]… faith perspectives by visiting many different congregations, talking to their leaders and have conversations among ourselves on faith perspectives.”

The destination for the winter break service trip is Cameroon and in the spring, Dickinson students will volunteer in Belize; New Orleans, LA; Georgia and Detroit, MI.

Park, who will be leading the Cameroon service trip, expressed her excitement for the upcoming trip, detailing the types of service they would be completing during their travel. 

“[We will] work with children at an orphanage and a school, teach computer at an elementary school, build, repair or paint classrooms and volunteer at the gallery of famous painter Max Lyonga,” said Park. 

Park describes her eagerness for students to participate in the trips.

“Service trips are a great way for Dickinsonians to immerse in a new community and serve while making a positive impact” Park said.

CSSS hosted “Snips for Service,” a fundraiser for the 2015-2016 service trips, on Monday, Oct. 12. Students could pay $15 cash or $20 in declining balance to have their hair cut by stylists from Studio East hair designs, a salon at 340 W. Louther St.

The center raised over $900 and 61 students got their hair cut.

“It was extremely successful and we hope to host it again in the spring to raise awareness and money for service trips,” Park said.

The center will also be hosting a Color Rush 5k on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m.  All proceeds will benefit the service trips and their participants. Anyone interested in participating can register at http://dickinson.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=167. It is $20 with a t-shirt and $15 without before Oct. 16. After that date, it is $20 without a t-shirt.