Hillel at Virginia Tech’s Women’s Alternative Spring Break to Miami

This Spring Break beginning March 8 through March 15, ten women will be traveling to Miami to participate in an Alternative Break doing community service; “Hokies in Miami, Serving to Make a Difference”. We have Jewish and non-Jewish participants.
While we are there we will be meeting and learning from highly influential women. We hope the outcome will allow the students to have an action plan when returning to campus. We have a fledgling Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group beginning within Hillel. We are anxious to see how this trip impacts the group. We encourage questions like what does it mean for me to be a point of change; can I be? What did I learn about myself and was I only here to help others? How will/does that impact me –affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively? We have our long itinerary on our website at www.vthillel.org and we will have an ongoing blog where women will write about the experience that day that most impacted them.
We believe have many ideas that we will work on to highlight issues that impact the lives of women. Below are the top 16 (in honor of the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech’s 16th anniversary) things we will do to increase awareness of women's and gender issues, to educate others, and to make a difference for women and girls, locally and globally!

Discussions on women’s gender intertwined in 5 planned conversations and many informal discussions throughout our ASB.
1. Making a Difference
2. Jewish Memory (after Holocaust Museum)
3. Hope and Responsibility
4. Myself as a Point of Change
5. Integrating Our Experience
6. Readings from “ A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book” by Aliza Lavie
7. Work in a Women’s Center (Lotus House)
8. Begin the tradition of an orange on the Seder Plate for Passover – signifying lesbian, gay, women awareness
9. Meeting with Lori Drutz, Director of Greater Miami Jewish Federation Volunteer Center
10. Meeting with Toby Ash, founder of Kosher Food Bank
11. Panel discussion with Donna Shalala, President of University of Miami
12. Hands on work on Organic Farm, tour and discussion with farmers
13. Service work at Wainwright Park in Brickell
14. Museum visits, Portraits of 48 Jews Exhibit, History of Jews in Florida
15. Service work at Salvation Army in thrift store and facility
16. Women lead Shabbat Service and Havdallah