The coordinators for Spring Break Campaigns are working to increase participation in the upcoming trips.

Mary Beth Cuevas, SBC coordinator and associate director for ACU Leadership Camps, said four people have applied for leadership positions. She said these people will help in the office and she hopes they will be able to lead campaigns as well. She also said a graduate student was hired as an assistant coordinator and has been working to promote the campaigns.

Matt Anderson, graduate student in New Testament and Ancient and Oriental Christianity from Waco, is the new assistant coordinator of Spring Break Campaigns. He said he worked in the Center for Christian Service and Leadership for a year and began his new position in January.

Cuevas and Anderson said one of their goals is to get more students involved.

“We are focused right now on recruiting students for the trips,” Anderson said, “Given some of the uncertainty about campaigns last semester, many students may not have taken the opportunity to apply.”

He said less than 20 people have signed up so far, which is enough for at least one campaign.

“We are still planning on going,” Cuevas said. “We have four places, but if we only have enough for one place, then we’ll go to one place. And that place will more than likely be Seattle, just because they’ve got an incredible program that they have going on there.”

Cuevas said preparations for the campaigns include helping participants raise money, making travel arrangements and beginning training.

She said the campaigns could cost between $800 – $1,500, depending on the location. While there is not an exact deadline, she said the goal would be to have the campaigns set by the middle of February.

“I personally would like to know who our people are that are going by Feb. 1,” she said. “That’s a personal goal for me, if not sooner, because I’d like to be able to build these relationships because I want the people who are going to have a cohesiveness before they go.”

Anderson said students should sign up for a campaign because SBCs have been a huge part of the ACU experience.

“It gives students a chance to get out and see more of the world than the ‘ACU Bubble’ while also giving them an opportunity to make a difference with their time off from studying,” he said. “Education can sometimes feel like a time in which one is not contributing to society or to life beyond oneself. SBCs offer a chance for students to take part in a service that goes beyond their selves.”

This year’s campaign destinations are St. Paul, Minn., Seattle, Wash., Chicago, Ill. and Fairfax, Va. Students interested in signing up for a campaign can do so on the Center for Christian Service and Leadership website.