Giving up time with family and friends to focus on those in need, 60 Misericordia University, Dallas, students spent their spring break on volunteer projects in some of the most underserved areas of New York, Florida and Pennsylvania, and on missions to assist the Sisters of Mercy on a self-sustaining farm in Rhode Island and at a spiritual renewal center near Philadelphia. The trips were coordinated by Campus Ministry.

Brianna Oswald of Lehighton was one of 10 Misericordia students and two chaperones who assisted at the Community Center at Visitation in the Kensington section of inner-city Philadelphia. The program operated by Betty Scanlon,

R.S.M., provides social services, elderly care and after-school care to members of the Latino, Ethiopian and Vietnamese communities in the area. Maria Cabrera, multicultural student outreach coordinator, and Jeffrey Passetti, assistant director of Campus Ministry, were chaperones for the trip.Debbie Keys of Jim Thorpe was one of 10 students and two chaperones who traveled to the New Dawn Earth Center in Cumberland, R.I., an Earth sustainability center operated by the Sisters of Mercy of New England. They helped prepare the educational center for the spring season and took part in classes regarding the wildlife in the region. They also assisted at the Mount Saint Rita's Retirement Village by helping to serve elderly residents in the nursing center, where they learned that small acts of kindness mean a great deal.