Bess Wilhelms, of Kirkwood, Mo., helps community as Interfaith Alternative Spring Break volunteer at Clark U.

WORCESTER, MA (03/26/2012)(readMedia)-- Clark University first-year Bess Wilhelms, of Kirkwood, spent her spring break as a volunteer with Worcester area agencies during Clark's first Interfaith Alternative Spring Break from March 7 to 11.

Wilhelms was among 26 Clark undergraduates who worked with eight local non-profit organizations and contributed to community outreach programs in the University's urban Main South neighborhood and beyond. From sorting food to cleaning parks to carving trail signs to painting rooms and building houses, students enthusiastically pitched in.

"From helping with the planning to seeing the project through, the whole project has been such a good experience, and a new look into the surprisingly interesting Worcester community," said Wilhelms.

The Clark spring break group sorted and organized food in storage boxes at Jeremiah's Inn and Worcester County Food Bank; spruced up an inner-city playground, Castle Park, with the Main South Community Development Corporation; built shelters and installed weather proofing at two different Habitat for Humanity sites in the neighborhood; painted rooms at Jeremiah's Inn and Habitat for Humanity; engaged in social activities (mostly playing games) with the residents of the Donna Kay Rest Home; cleaned up and logged in the inventory at Worcester Earn a Bike Organization; and carved and painted trail signs to conserve a piece of land for the Greater Worcester Land Trust.

The program, initiated by students from Clark University Hillel, the group that celebrates Jewish culture and community, included a diverse group of students who identify as Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i, Unitarian, atheist, agnostic, and free thinkers. The group comprised local, national and international students, including three students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an Assumption College undergraduate.

Each evening the group dined together, discussed their experiences, and also reflected the underlying causes of the social and economic challenges that affect their adopted neighborhood.

"I am constantly inspired by Clark students and their idealism and commitment," said David Coyne, director of Hillel at Clark. "This program gave us the opportunity to have an intense set of experiences together – not only volunteering, cooking, eating, and socializing together – but also learning about ourselves and one another, about the values we have and the sources that we identify in tracing them to their roots, and about the nature of the Clark-Main South relationship, about what it truly means to be a good neighbor."

Wilhelms is a member of Clark Freethought Society and is involved in local community building with the Bruce Wells Scholars Upward Bound program, sponsored by Clark University and You Inc.

Wilhelms is a 2011 graduate of Kirkwood High School, and is the daughter of Paul and Lisa Wilhelms, of Kirkwood, Mo.

Click here to read a Worcester Telegram & Gazette feature article about the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break at Clark University. More photos and reflections by the students are available on the Clark Interfaith Alternative Spring Break blog.

Since its founding in 1887, Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has a history of challenging convention. As an innovative liberal arts college and research university, Clark's world-class faculty leads a community of creative thinkers and passionate doers and offers a range of expertise. Clark is nationally recognized in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. Clark's students, faculty and alumni embody the Clark motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.