Service Trips

The Office of Service and Leadership (OSL) was also created to support student initiatives. Participating students gain inspiration and new friendships, while providing valuable service to others. Our goal is to provide our students with the opportunity to attend service trips at least once a year at no cost.

Upcoming Trip

Driven by our students’ desire to help the individuals affected by Hurricane Sandy, our next service trip is to the Atlantic City area on March 2-8. Students will be helping with any immediate needs the communities will be facing. 

“I’ll never forget watching the news in late October of 2012.  Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern coast and left many helpless people in its path.  In the days following, I found myself grief stricken for the individuals whose lives were just turned upside down…As I watched the news I felt helpless because I wanted to contribute but I didn’t know how one college student could make a difference.  This is when I learned that Ashford was holding a service trip to the east coast.  I knew from that point on that I had to go on this trip.” 

-Erika Fisk, Senior, Bachelor of Health Science Administration (Washington, IL)

Our Most Recent Trip

Led by the Office of Service and Leadership, twelve students and two staff members traveled to Chicago this past October to provide support to the poverty stricken areas of the city.  It was a great opportunity for students from all different backgrounds to travel together and get the opportunity to experience the challenges individuals face in other areas of the country.  

The students on the Chicago service trip got the opportunity to visit the following sites: YMCA Head Start Program, Cannan Missionary Food Pantry, Epworth Men’s Shelter and Cornerstone Community Soup Kitchen. View a slideshow of their trip.

“When I think of Chicago I picture downtown, shopping, Millennium Park, Navy Pier; my thoughts of Chicago have always been materialistic. I had never known or spent any time thinking about anything other than the “glamour” of the city. You could say that until this experience, I lived in my own little world; and I’m sure it was the same for most of the students that joined me. The typical “downtown” scene is all any of us pictured when we thought of a city; and that has been forever changed for me.” 

-Haley Fischer, Junior, Bachelor of Sports and Recreation Management (Kingston, IL)

Previous Trips
October 2012 - Chicago, IL
March 2012 - Joplin, MO

Contact: 
Audra Adams, MBA 
Manager of Service Learning
audra.adams@ashford.edu
563.242.4023, ext. 7242