Iona College Students to Spend Spring Break Volunteering to Help Communities in Bolivia, New Orleans and Detroit

Story contributors: MaryKate Murnane, ’14 and Brittany Pinto, ’13 - MarCom Student Interns

New Rochelle, NY (March 5, 2013) As spring break approaches, the typical college student would be preparing for a week full of sunbathing, jet skiing, and of course a whole lot of free time to just relax.  But here at Iona, many students want to give back to others in need and choose to become immersed in a radically different culture.  Through the Iona in Mission program students are given a unique learning experience that offers them the opportunity to serve, for a short time, those most in need. Beginning March 7, 31 Iona College students will be saying good bye to New York and hello to Bolivia, New Orleans and Detroit. 

The community prays for the Iona in Mission teams and sends them off to serve during the Commissioning at Mass in the Arrigoni Center on Sunday, March 3.

From March 7-16, a group of 10 students and one administrator will be heading to Cochabamba, Bolivia to team up with the Christian Brothers (Los Hermanos Cristianos). The focus of the immersion experience is to experience the poverty of Bolivia by working with the Brothers in a tutoring center and an orphanage. “This is the second year Iona is working in the community of Los Hermanos Christianos. We will be working with orphaned children, children who work and go to school, and the community. We are all very excited to devote our week to helping children of this rich indigenous culture,” said Bianca Diaz, ’13.

From March 9-16, 11 Iona in Mission students and one administrator will be in New Orleans, LA (NOLA) working with Camp Restore.  Camp Restore is a Christian service organization which utilizes local and national volunteers to rebuild the homes of the elderly, disabled or uninsured victims of Hurricane Katrina.  The NOLA trip will offer opportunities for students to visit and reflect with Christian Brother volunteers in the communities. Student leader Matt Romano ’14 expressed, “We don’t know exactly what kind of work we will be doing.  However last year we spent the week rebuilding a church severely affected by Katrina and farming for the ARCH. What we do know is every trip blows our expectations out of the water. I can't wait to discover the amazing memories we will make.”

Iona in Mission gives students the opportunity to help great causes and make a difference in communities other than their own.  A third team of 10 students and one administrator will be traveling to Detroit, MI to work with Motown Mission, which offers an urban work and reflection experience.  “This is not only a learning experience but a memorable trip that they will never forget,” said Stephen Hill, coordinator of Iona in Mission. The students will work at homes in need of repair, soup kitchens, and urban agriculture sites.  "My team and I will be working with the people of Detroit by volunteering in community gardens, food pantries, and helping with home improvement. I am so excited to explore an unfamiliar city and to meet so many different people who will enhance our experience more than we can ever hope," stated student leader, Laura Lubrano, ’14.

A Mass was celebrated in the Arrigoni Center on Sunday, March 3, where a tradition of prayer by the community was given for the teams before they are sent off to serve.

The Iona in Mission program is a unique learning experience that offers us the opportunity to serve, for a short time, those most in need, to engross ourselves in a radically different culture, and learn the tools of which to create more just situations. An Iona in Mission trip can take place over a weekend a school break or at the end of the semester. By design, Iona in Mission trips bring students into a different place and culture so that they may be introduced to the causes, effects and faces of violence, poverty and racial injustice in order to participate in the work of justice and peace making. If you are interested in any Iona in Mission programs, see or email Stephen Hill in the Office of Mission and Ministry on the second floor in LaPenta Student Union or call at (914) 633-2340.

Founded in 1940, Iona College is a four-year private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. It is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs.

For questions or more information please contact:
Dawn Insanalli
Public Relations Office
Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
Office: (914) 637-2726
Fax: (914) 637-2711
dinsanalli@iona.edu