United Way Alternative Spring Break sponsored by Deloitte

So of course no ASB blog would be complete without a recap of the week in Terre Haute! Excuse us for being late, we were so busy and time went by SOOOO fast!

First of all, I'd like to thank EVERYONE who made United Way Alternative Spring Break in Terre Haute possible...especially Jessie Wozny, Heather, Honnalora, Al, and everyone else. Thanks to Indiana State University for being an awesome hope, thanks to United Way of Wabash Valley for everything! Thanks to Clabber Girl, Ryves, TGI Fridays, and all the others who donated their food, time and resources to welcome us!

I was a team leader for the second time, and it was my third year returning to ASB, so I was definitely pumped! Team Leaders arrived on Thursday at Indiana State University, and while we had a blast during training, we couldn't wait for the participants to arrive!

Saturday March 7, 2009, the participants arrived by car, plane, trains, etc. We were so happy to see them and meet our teams! We welcomed them with a rap to "Livin my life" by TI and Rihanna...classic! if I find the video, I'll repost it on here.

Sunday we went on the community tour of the Terre Haute/Wabash Valley region and then had a program back at ISU for the participants. Then Monday came and we were ready to work!

I was a proud team leader of the then named Walnut Warriors (later renamed the Messy Mikes), and we were so excited to do some demolition, drywall and paint a house severely damaged by the June 6 floods.

We didn't get a chance to do that.

My team spent three days cleaning out a house damaged by the flood, and we didn't know that our team was in way over our heads, until we got there.

Still, despite all the craziness with our site, we made the best of it, and eventually got to drywall. I'm not so sure what is appropriate to post and what isn't appropriate to post on this blog, so I will err on the side of caution, and not post too much else. We had a fairly difficult site for an ASB, but it all ended on a good note. We found out the day before we left that our site's family was possibly in line for a great deal of aid, which relieved us to know that they would be taken care of! it made our ASB experience totally worth it.


The rest of the teams had a pretty good experience...we had Team Chewbacca at the Warehouse and the demolition site. We had the BeJacles at the Saginaw site doing some drywall and painting (I think), and another team doing Demolition.

We had a cheer just for Terre Haute (you had to be there) and even a leadership quote (it sucks, but whatever).

Terre Haute was an awesome experience. Indiana State was more than hospitable to us, letting us stay in their dance studios, and use the AACC (African American Cultural Center) for the week. Big ups to the Terre Haute/Wabash Valley region for being so gracious to us in our stay there.

The media coverage was amazing...seems like we were in the paper every day, getting visits at every site by various TV stations as far away as Illinois, the next state over, and even did a few radio interviews.

We ate out EVERY day at a different location for Breakfast AND Dinner, at places such as the ones mentioned above (Clabber Girl, TGI Fridays, etc).

We got tons of free stuff.
But that's not why we came to Terre Haute.

We came to help a community in need.

Upon arriving to Terre Haute, Indiana, we found out that we were the first group of outside volunteers to come in and help rebuild after the June 6 floods.

We hadn't heard alot about the devastation and what happened until we got there. But once we got there and learned about it, we knew we had to help, and that we wouldn't forget.

We realized that a small group of people really can make a difference and make the world a better place.

The leadership team especially had our trying times and periods of frustration. But we remembered why we came, and got our focus back. We were just like a real family-we laughed together, cried together, worked together, danced together, and overall...we bonded and came together to help kickoff a recovery effort in the Wabash Valley region.

It was so awesome to be a team leader again, I had the best team, and best co team leaders. As I am nearing the end of my collegiate years, it is unsure if I will return another year. But I know that all the memories made in Terre Haute, Indiana, will be cherished, and I'm pretty sure that all of the ASBers left their mark on the community.




Terre---Haute Haute!!! (you had to be there!)