Rider Students Prepare for Second Spring Break in Santo Domingo

Last spring break, Rider University students raised $3,000 to help renovate a children’s orphanage in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  On March 14-21 this year, they hope to achieve that goal and possibly more.
     Nine will actually travel to Santo Domingo to work on renovation projects to assist the residents of the Hogar Escuela Armando Rosenberg Home and School located in Sabana Perdida, the largest barrio in the Dominican Republic. The Rider group will help refurbish the infirmary at the Hogar, which serves not only the school but the local community. The infirmary provides the only source of medical assistance for most of the inhabitants in that area.
     The students’ trip is sponsored by the University’s Campus Ministry and the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Community Service in cooperation with The Orchid Foundation, a non-profit organization established by the Rotarians of Burlington County.
     To help improve the quality of life for orphanage residents, Rider’s students have gone door to door collecting money in residence halls and after services on weekends at Gill Chapel. Several sororities have also assisted by holding fundraisers.  
      According to Father Bruno Ugliano, Rider’s Catholic Chaplain, special emphasis will be placed on service learning.  “Rider students are going to lend a helping hand wherever needed,” said Ugliano. “This is not a vacation; it is a way for Rider students to extend themselves to individuals in great need. By giving of themselves, they will be learning what it means to be their brother’s and sister’s keeper. The students are paying for all of this themselves.” 
     During their stay, the group will assist in giving computer lessons, teaching English, and playing recreational sports with the children. Throughout the trip, they will chronicle their daily experiences in a journal.  Jader Harlow ’02, an assistant campus minister at Catholic Campus Ministry at Rider, and Bruce Evans, Jr. ’01, head track and field coach at Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, PA, will serve as chaperones.        

     Making the journey are:

• Jessica Lelli of Norristown, PA, a junior finance major
• Jason Carmona of Fairview, a senior psychology major
• Lauren Brenna of Hamilton Square, a junior accounting major
• Crystal Mercado of Roselle Park, a junior political science major
• Rebecca Weber of Union, a sophomore psychology major
• Timothy Glen of Langhorne, PA, a junior accounting major
• Deborah Paulsen of Flemington, a senior business major
• Ariana Iacono of Lawrenceville, a junior elementary education/fine arts major
• Matthew Lanahan of Blackwood, a sophomore accounting major

     For more information on the Orchid Foundation, go to www.orchid foundation.org.  Call Father Bruno at (609) 896-0394 or e-mail him at bugliano@rider.edu for further information on Rider’s involvement in this service learning project. If you care to help, send your donations to Catholic Campus Ministry, c/o Father Bruno. Checks should be made payable to Catholic Campus Ministry.

Return to Newswire