Number of miles traveled: 1,300.

Hours driving from Keuka Park, N.Y. to North Fort Meyers, Fla.: about 29.

Number of students participating in Keuka College’s Alternative Spring Break: 14.

Number of Habitat for Humanity houses worked on by Keuka students: two.

Spending spring break helping those in need: priceless.

Fourteen Keuka College freshmen, sophomores, and juniors joined more than 12,000 fellow spring breakers from across the country participating in Habitat for Humanity’s “Collegiate Challenge” March 23-30.

Shelby Harvey, community service coordinator, and College Chaplain Jeff Falter led the Keuka students.

Harvey, a veteran Habitat for Humanity volunteer, has worked with a chapter of the group since she was in high school.

“I wanted to have Keuka do something that would get students interested in Habitat for Humanity, and helping to build houses in Florida over spring break was one way to do that,” said Harvey. “The North Fort Meyers chapter builds an average of 100 homes a year, and works on about 33 at a time. We are hoping to make this an annual trip.”

And maybe do something more than once a year closer to home.

“Now the students are asking if there is a chapter in Yates County they can help,” said Harvey.

According to junior Amanda Guzick, the North Fort Meyers chapter “is really organized.

“They don’t know who will be in the houses yet,” she said. “They work really hard to build a lot of houses, so that when people go through the application process and complete it, they have a house all ready for them to move into.”

Like Harvey, junior Sara Rodgers, an adolescent English/special education major, has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity since high school.

“I've been involved with Habitat for Humanity for six years, and this sounded like something good I could do with people from Keuka,” said the Medford, N.J. resident. “I got to meet and bond with people from Keuka that I didn't know before this trip. Now we all see each other in our daily lives, and know that we shared something amazing.”

Guzick agrees.

“It brought a group of students together to do something good for people that we didn’t even know,” said the unified childhood/special education major from Pottsville, Pa. “I really learned a lot about the people with whom I went, and more about myself.”

Harvey and Rodgers were not the only folks to bring home-building know-how to Florida. Junior Kate Lampman has some roofing experience of her own.

“I have helped shingle the roof of my house, but I had never done anything with vinyl siding before,” said the occupational science major from Freeville.

Guzick and freshman Aimee Vilardo didn’t have any roofing or siding experience, but according to Harvey, “the students learned very quickly.”

“I was nervous about being on the roof,” said Guzick. “But once I started, I loved it.By the time the week was over, we all got the hang of it and wanted to stay longer. We all bonded and had a really good time and that made it even more fun.”

Vilardo, a biology major from Ticonderoga, found her first Alternative Spring Break “fantastic.

“We were able to finish siding two houses and shingle one of the roofs,” she said.

And while some of the students did not know each other before the trip, a common theme brought them together.

“I participated in Alternative Spring Break so I could do something helpful and productive on my spring break, rather than spending it at home,” said Vilardo. “Not only was it great to be able to help people in need, it was a great learning experience.”

Lampman traveled to Florida for the same reason.

“I wanted to do something different, and not just waste a week hanging around my house,” she said. “Lately, I have been impressed by the amount of need that exists in the world. I feel that I should spend more of my free time helping people. This was an opportunity to make a difference.”

For Guzick, a typical spring break would have been going home and working, so when “I heard about this I thought that it would be fun and something different than the norm.

“I had such a great time on this trip,” said Guzick. “We all stepped out of our comfort levels and shared an amazing experience. I really had a blast and would do it again if I could.”

Added Lampman: “It was rewarding to be able to work on a house that someone will live in and cherish. I had the opportunity to do something special for a family.”

-- Gretchen Parsells