Learning to give back at a young age will continue to reward spring breakers

Published 8:50 pm Friday, March 11, 2016

In Friday’s edition of The Vicksburg Post, we highlighted some students on spring break taking a whirlwind tour of the South and helping people along the way.

The students, members of a group called Students Today Leaders Forever, came from Michigan State University and St. Louis University to visit six southern cities doing community service work along the way.

In Vicksburg, the group of students teamed up with Mountain of Faith Ministries to clean up and organize the shelter, which was very appreciative of the help.

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Junior Kristy Getty was leading the group from St. Louis University, and she said this is her second year participating with the tour.

“The first year I wanted to go because I did service trips all through high school, so I was interested in continuing that over spring break because I think it’s a good opportunity to see different communities and help people throughout the United States,” she said. “It’s a really unique trip because we get to go to a different city every day. That’s what really drew me in.”

Getty was not alone as many students on the trip echoed her sentiments.

“I got to meet 40 other people who are diverse but genuinely great people,” Michigan State sophomore David Cohn said. “I’ve gotten to do things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, see places I wouldn’t have seen and help people I wouldn’t have seen.”

We appreciated these young people coming to Vicksburg to help our community during a time when many of their peers are soaking up the sun on coastal beaches.

This organization Students Today Leaders Forever is truly building leaders forever by teaching our nation’s young people how important it is to give back and showing them how it can be fun to do so at the same time.

We hope these young people enjoyed their stay in Vicksburg and will return again soon, but more importantly, we hope they will keep their passion for volunteering.