Here’s a riddle: What has been described as inspiring, educational, challenging and addicting; a good source of friends and service; and is active year-round? You may be surprised to hear: Alternative Spring Break.

Alternative Spring Break, or ASB as those involved like to call it, is a non-profit organization affiliated with the University of Illinois and the local chapter of the YMCA. The group’s title though may strike some as a bit of a misnomer.

Those in attendance at the most recent informational meetings, intended to draw in new students and pique their interest, heard about the upcoming summer trips, including one to Wolf Haven International in Tenino, Washington.

“Spring is our biggest season, hence our name,” said Martha Webber, graduate student in LAS and ASB co-director. “Fourteen (trips) are going in the spring. We usually do about ten in the winter, four over the fall break and four over the summer break.”

These 14 trips are being sent out to various locales, each focusing on a different issue, including HIV/AIDS, youth poverty, animal rights, environment and Native American rights. Each trip will last approximately one week, allowing the students on the trip ample time to make a difference and bond.

“The bonding that you get on your trip is stronger than you get from any organization,” said Ramsen Zacharia, senior in LAS and ASB external relations co-chair.

One of the more popular trips is a recurring visit to the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. Students take an ‘urban plunge’ where they live as homeless people for 48 hours.

“(It’s) unlike anything else you’ve experienced,” said Christopher Walton, senior in Engineering and ASB site development co-chair.

In addition to aiding communities outside of Champaign-Urbana, ASB practices a message of education. Once signed up for a trip, a student can expect to participate in fundraising, pre-trip education sessions and coffee talks during which the students can discuss their particular issue with students going on other trips.

Trips are generally subsidized and run around $300 per student. While some other alternative break organizations prorate the cost of the trip by the distance traveled, ASB keeps all trips priced equally to allow all participants to consider all trips. The cost includes a $75 application fee. According to members of the ASB Executive Board, this is to make sure applicants are serious about the trip and feel more invested right off the bat. For those applicants in dire financial straits, a scholarship is available. Named after the program director who organized and sent the first ASB trip in 1989, the Maria Somma scholarship is given to applicants demonstrating financial circumstances not conducive to a $300 bill. These scholarships – like the positions themselves – are given out anonymously.

For more information (including applications for the upcoming summer session), visit http://illinoisasb.org.