Ashley Lemke of Sibley Participated in Spring Break Service Trip to Utah

2015 May 6

Ten Buena Vista University (BVU) students participated in an AWOL (Alternative Week of Off-site Learning) trip during spring break, enabling them to volunteer their time and service with a focus on being a part of the animal advocacy movement through direct outreach.

The BVU students traveled to Kanab, Utah, and volunteered at Best Friends Animal Society, where they learned about animal advocacy, how to care for many different types of animals and the importance of giving a voice to those who do not have one. Service projects included painting fences, repairing dog runs, cleaning and weeding the horse cemetery and socializing animals. They attended educational sessions on trap/neuter/return programs for feral cats, on research conducted on the long-term effects of puppy mills and a demonstration of the Parelli horse training technique.

Ashley Lemke from Sibley participated in the trip. Lemke is a junior communication studies major at BVU.

Advisors for this experience were Dr. Inez Schaechterle, associate professor of English, and Mandy Boothby, director of counseling services at BVU.

"The AWOL Animal Advocacy trip was a wonderful experience," said Boothby. "We were able to do many projects that helped the animals and the caregivers to the animals. Best Friends also did a lot of education on different aspects of animal advocacy. We were able to bring this information back to our own communities and make a difference at home."

Tabitha Ubben, a senior biology major from Bristow and student site leader for the trip, noted, "Not only did we provide service, we also got to learn the importance about what they do at the sanctuary and how we could bring that knowledge back and apply it to our communities."

"My experience with the animal advocacy AWOL trip was eye opening," said Molly Konrad, a senior accounting and business-human resources concentration major from Glidden and also a student site leader. "It provided me with a great education that will allow me to implement animal advocacy programs within my community."

AWOL has sent more than 641 volunteers and completed an estimated 27,916 hours of service worldwide, furthering its mission to immerse students in different cultures, heighten social awareness and advocate life-long social action through service on a local, regional and international level.

Four AWOL trips took place this year, with 40 BVU students participating. The other trips focused on disaster relief and clean up in New Orleans, Louisiana; inner-city poverty outreach in Atlanta, Georgia; and grassroots sustainability and economic development in Nicaragua. Information about the additional AWOL trips can be found on BVU's website at www.bvu.edu/news.