Students ditch Cancun and opt for Camden for spring break

For many U.S. college students, spring break is a time to party in warm, beachfront locations. But for some, it’s a time to work for social justice. That’s why more than 200 students are spending their spring break in Camden, New Jersey this year.

For many U.S. college students, spring break is a time to party in warm, beachfront locations. But for some, it’s a time to work for social justice. That’s why more than 200 students are spending their spring break in Camden, New Jersey this year.

Transcript:
The students who spend their spring break in Camden have a very different experience from those downing margaritas at a Caribbean resort.

Jim Cummings is Director of the WorkGroup Program for Urban Promise Ministries.

Cummings: “We have painted school buses with brushes actually, but whatever the needs are I mean and it could be fixing or cleaning up bathrooms, painting clasrooms, building fences, helping get garden areas ready, landscaping projects, putting up basketball hoops — we did a couple of those last week.”

Cummings says near the beginning of the week he gives the students a tour of the city.  He says the sight of open-air drug dealing, prostitution, and so many boarded-up homes is an eye-opening experience for many of them.

This week, students are coming from King College in Tennessee.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: reports20090331camden.mp3]