HOLLAND - In locales as nearby as Holland and as far away as Central America, nearly 400 Hope College students will spend spring break serving others.

This year, 27 service and mission trips have been planned for the college's spring break, which runs Friday, March 18, through Sunday, March 27. The trips are a long-running tradition at the college, with hundreds of students participating annually for the past several years.

More than 300 students will participate in 24 mission trips organized by the college's Campus Ministries Office. In addition, more than 50 students total will be participating in one of three other trips, traveling with Habitat for Humanity to Bunnell, Fla.; with associate professor of kinesiology Dr. Steven Smith to Jamaica; or with professor of economics Dr. Robin Klay to Mexico.

The Campus Ministries trips will involve a variety of settings, including urban and rural ministry within the United States, and service in the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.

In East Palo Alto, Calif., students will be working with Bayshore Christian Ministries, a year-round ministries program, to help at-risk children. Students with the Oasis Ministries in Hollywood, Calif., will minister to people in the city through evangelism and providing for food and clothing needs.

In Avon Park, Fla., students will work with other volunteers in providing hurricane relief through the Florida Storm Recovery Center, opened by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Through a trip to Ocean Reef, Fla., members of the Hope College worship team will be leading worship and performing concerts throughout the Keys and in Miami. Students working with Christ Community Church in Pompano Beach, Fla., will practice evangelism on the beach.

In Comer, Ga., students will serve with Jubilee Partners, working with newly arrived refugees from war-torn countries.

A trip to Annville, Ky., has been designed for students interested in the health professions, and will present opportunities to work with local family practice doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and physical therapists. In Hazel Green, Ky., students will work with Impact Missions to connect with the community through participating in work projects.

In Holland, students will reach out to area residents through local organizations and individual efforts.

Students heading to Newark, N.J., will work with World Impact, an inner-city ministry, to tutor children and offer some retail training to residents. In Dulce, N.M., students interested in the health professions will work with local health care providers in addressing the needs of local Native Americans. New Life Fellowship and Street Life Ministries in Queens, N.Y., offer students a chance to participate in urban ministry in a diverse setting.

Apache, Okla., and the Apache Reformed Church will host students as they work with Native Americans of all ages.

Sonshine Ministries in Loysville, Pa., allows students to help in the day-to-day operations of a rehabilitation center for recovering substance abuse victims. In Philadelphia, Pa., students will team up with the Center for Student Missions to volunteer in food and clothing pantries as well as children's programs and a rescue mission for men.

With Service Over Self in Memphis, Tenn., students will provide improvement assistance to homeowners in the inner-city community. Students in Washington, D.C., will partner with the Center for Student Missions to work in shelters and soup kitchens.

Seven groups of Hope students will travel abroad through the Campus Ministries program this year.

Students involved in sacred dance at Hope will travel to Cuba, where they will teach dance at a day care, minister in churches and dance at a pastors' conference for prison ministry.

Students heading to the Dominican Republic will partner with the Worldwide Christian Schools HANDS Team to build schools for the country's children. Young Life leaders from Hope will also go to the Dominican Republic, to lend a hand with work projects at a Young Life camp, play with children, and lead activities and worship with young adults involved in Young Life.

Students traveling to Jamaica will work with the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf to lend a hand in various construction projects for the organization's village.

In Reynosa, Mexico, students will engage in construction and interact with the children at the Benito Juarez Children's Home, a shelter for orphans and children needing foster care. Students headed to Tijuana, Mexico, will team up with La Rocca, a program designed to help the city's poor and addicted.

A trip to Nicaragua will allow pre-medical and nursing students a chance to help by making visits to remote villages and public schools to help meet a variety of hygiene and medical needs.

The group of students with Hope's chapter of Habitat for Humanity will travel to Bunnell, Fla., to assist in home construction through Habitat for Humanity International's "Collegiate Challenge" program. For the ninth straight year, a group of Hope students with Smith will be working on the school campus of the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Students with Klay will travel to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to assist Habitat Mexico in an effort to build housing for families.

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