The pursuit of justice is a core value of North Carolina Hillel.  Please check out the individual campus pages to learn about social justice projects happening near you.

Every year, NC Hillel hosts multiple Alternative Breaks.  Alternative Breaks take groups of students out of their everyday surroundings and place them in new environments, to engage in community service and experiential learning. As part of short-term service projects, participants are challenged to see and understand difficult social issues such as poverty, literacy, and violence and to explore questions of Judaism and social responsibility.

 
In the past two years NC Hillel delegations have traveled to New Orleans, Argentina, and Uruguay to engage in direct service work. 
Read NC Hillel's Argentina Blog from 2009
Read UNC-Chapel Hill's New Orleans blog from 2010

Learn about Service trips for this school year.

REFLECTIONS FROM PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS
Upon returning from an Alternative Break, North Carolina Hillel students routinely describe their experiences as fulfilling, inspiring and even transformative. Below are just a few reflections:

“We have all learned a lot about ourselves, the way we relate to the world around us, and the power we have to make important changes and help our peers. This trip has raised questions that are difficult to answer, but exciting to wrestle with. Topics like the meaning of poverty and of being poor, the importance of helping those in our community versus those who may be suffering more but live further away, and whether or not helping other Jews should be a priority in tzedakah have all become very real and tangible to us this week.” 
- Deena Fulton, UNC 2011, Charlotte, NC
(Spring Break in Buenos Aires, 2009)

“I learned a lot this week about what it truly means to give – that when you give of yourself, you receive more than you give. We all grew and gained so much from this experience. Our conversations about poverty and tzedakah are hopefully just the beginning of how we can all make a difference in our communities at home and around the world. We helped to give the kids at the school we rebuilt a little bit of hope for the future, especially knowing that they have our support in America.”
– Rebekah Shaw, UNC 2011, Atlanta, GA
(Spring Break in Buenos Aires, 2009)

“We spent Spring Break inside a small, dusty, half-constructed house in New Orleans, joining hundreds of Hillel students from across the country who dedicated their breaks to Katrina victims in the name of tzedakah. Five years after the disaster, many of the homes appeared to be just beginning the rebuilding process. It was especially powerful to see many of the physical remnants of the disaster: visible waterlines, shattered windows and holes in the ceilings forged by victims trying to escape the rising waters and flee to their roofs. Our work culminated on our final day, when the owner of the house on which we had been working visited to see our progress. She told us the story of how she had to evacuate with her 16-year-old daughter when the hurricane hit. She thanked us profusely for our charity, but we were too humbled by her to say anything meaningful. Really, I wanted to thank her for her demonstration of courage and resilience. We left the site that day content in knowing another college group would arrive there the next week, and another one after that, to finish our work.”
- Mark Abadi, UNC 2012, Charlotte, NC
(Spring Break in New Orleans, 2010)

“Participating in Hillel’s Spring Break in New Orleans helped me to understand the exceptional number of man hours necessary in order not only to rebuild a home, but also to rebuild a city. Despite the severity of the damage, the collective effort of even our relatively small volunteer group resulted in substantial progress. What is more, hearing parishioners express to us the extent of their gratitude and a commitment to reciprocal treatment in the event of our own disaster was inspiring. Our devotion to the project, despite our own geographic distance and lack of personal relation to the victims, gave testament to the integrity of human compassion. It is my hope that Jews continue to perform this important healing and bridge-building work.”
- Hannah Weinberger, UNC 2013, Cleveland, OH
(Spring Break in New Orleans, 2010)