This past week, I was fortunate enough to go on an Alternative Spring Break trip to New York City with fellow Emerson students! The focus of our trip? To do our part in helping NYC become a healthier, greener environment not only through things like a park cleanup, but also through volunteering at various shelters, kitchens, and food pantries around Harlem, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. From washing dishes to folding laundry, to serving food and having dinner with guests from a local LGBQT shelter, it truly was a life-changing experience. Although I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside most of the establishments, here are some photos of what we ASB’ers did in our down time, gallivanting around NYC:
– Making a family dinner on our first night at the church where we were staying
– Walking around our neighborhood in Harlem
– The Park Slope Women’s Shelter in Brooklyn where we folded and sorted laundry for the 70 or so women that stay there nightly. The shelter provides on-site therapeutic services for mentally disabled and substance-abusing women, as well as temporary housing, meals, and job training.
– Brainstorming ideas for our own shelters with Duke students at YSOP.
– Cherylynn and Steven showing off their garlic-bread-making-skills for our dinner at YSOP.
– On the Q train heading to Brooklyn, with the Verrazano Bridge off in the distance
– Emersonians at the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center after a full day of serving a delicious lunch to seniors. We even got to sit down and eat with them!
– Walking the streets of New York, beautiful even when it’s cloudy out!
– Emersonians letting out some steam in the middle of Lincoln Center.
– As amazing as our trip was, we anxiously awaited the Mega Bus back to Boston