选择休息: Students provide service at organizations across the country

“我一直想为一家公司工作 organization like a shelter, and this trip has provided a great opportunity to see what this work is like and it also reinforces my 对动物的爱，”Jae Gauthier说.

Rather than spending their spring break relaxing, Gauthier and other Grand Valley students spent the first week of March in Batavia, Ohio, gaining career experience and caring for 被忽视的动物 联盟 为动物福利 .

Gauthier is a wildlife biology major who hopes to pursue a job with the Department of Natural Resources or at an 动物收容所. 

The week in Ohio was part of the group's involvement in 选择休息 (AB), a student organization that was established at 1991年的大峡谷. 就像它的母公司一样， 打破 , AB strives to create a society of active citizens who make the community a priority in their values and life decisions.

AB sent six groups of students across the country for service projects such as aiding a homeless shelter at 我们的房子 in Little Rock, Arkansas, or protecting forests and 洁净水 山真的 在北卡罗来纳州的墨菲市.

Students who participate in these trips can complete 服务时间超过40小时. 这些旅行是由学生网站负责人带领的 like Lily Clark, president of AB and site leader for the Ohio trip. 

“An additional goal of AB is to bring the knowledge and experience from these trips back to the GVSU campus so that we can benefit our local community with events and other activities to give 回来。”克拉克说.

For Trinity Simon, a sophomore studying pre-veterinary medicine, spending a week at the 联盟 为动物福利 offered opportunities for her to attend a vaccination clinic and work with animals outside of her job as an assistant at a West 密歇根急救动物医院.

“Not only do I get a chance to travel at fairly inexpensive costs, but I also get to give back to a community and work with animals, which has been my passion for as long as I can 记住，”西蒙说. “我自己的房子看起来更像一个动物园.” 

联盟 为动物福利 is one of the oldest and 俄亥俄州最大的非杀戮动物收容所. Carrie Leary，志愿者 manager, said it serves the larger Cincinnati area. 那里的工作人员发现 homes for more than 1,500 cats and dogs each year. 

这次旅行的每个学生都直接与 sheltered animals, providing them care through baths, feeding and 游戏时间. They also got down and dirty to help benefit the shelter that hosted them by thoroughly cleaning every aspect of the facility at least once and helping prep food or clean llitter boxes.

Leary complimented the work by Grand Valley students. “They were a fantastic group, and I cannot say enough good things 博天堂官方网页他们，”她说.

The students got to name a handful of kittens that were 最近被收容所收留了. 他们给猫取名为“湖人”、“锚” 费城，以菲洛梅娜五世总统命名. 曼.

“选择休息 provide all of these experiences 但影响更大，”克拉克说. “你在生活和工作 in a small group, often creating friendships and connections that help deepen your understanding of a particular issue and drive home the importance of making the community a priority in your life.”

托马斯·加勒特 is a student writer for University 通信. Garrett, a native of Stevensville, is a senior who 主修写作.