Students Today Leaders Forever hosted a route reveal party last Thursday for their fifth annual spring break service trip.
The leadership group is part of the National STLF corp, which organizes trips during spring break at universities across the country. Students volunteer in a different city each day of the trip.
Amy Grogan, a junior psychology major and STLF member, said National Corp gives the group its destination. The destination this year [is] Charleston, South Carolina, where all national STLF groups will meet up and celebrate the conclusions of their trips.
Once the final destination, or “celebration city,” is revealed, STLF student planners choose the stops along the way. Routes cannot exceed 2,600 miles, because students have to travel to different cities on buses.
Keith Miller, a junior English major and STLF member, said they submit the route to National, which then approves it.
This is the first year Bradley is sending two buses of students to accommodate the large number of participants. Each bus will travel a different route.
“Our chapter corp organizes the buses, and then the bus corp does a lot of Googling [to choose the routes],” Grogan said. “Then we reach out to community leaders and places we could do service.”
According to Grogan, the organization is for students and led by students.
“We’re running it,” Grogan said. “We’re just here to do service across the country. It’s called the ‘Pay It Forward’ tour, which is exactly what we’re doing.”
In the past, STLF members have worked at animal shelters, helped clear park trails and worked at food pantries.
“When I was a freshman, I told my friend that I didn’t want to go home for spring break,” Miller said. “He told me to go on this bus, and I did. And it was great.”
For more information on the routes, students can visit the STLF at Bradley Facebook page. Applications for the trips are available on their Facebook or stlf.net.
“My first time, I went on knowing only one person,” Miller said. “And now I’m still a part of it … I met a bunch of people, and we had a good time. I’ve stuck with it.”
