Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has received a $5,500 grant from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to support students during the Campus Ministry-sponsored Alternative Break mission trips for the academic year 2025-26. The grant will help students cover the cost of lodging, food and fuel.
“Without the considerable generosity of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, these trips would only be accessible to students who could afford the significant expense of self-funding,” said Tim Tesmer, SMWC campus minister and organizer of both fall and spring alternative break trips. “It would undoubtedly limit participation to a very few, if any at all.”
In the fall, students traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., to work with the Metro Drug Coalition Knoxville. Students helped in the areas of most need.
This spring, students will travel to Savannah, Ga., for Alternative Spring Break, March 9-13. Details of the trip are still being worked out. “The alternative break trips provide SMWC students with an opportunity to cultivate discipleship, deepen spiritual growth and foster holistic spiritual formation as they serve the physical and spiritual needs of the less fortunate,” Tesmer said.
Campus ministry grants were established in 2019 to set aside funding generated through the United Catholic Appeal to support campus ministry efforts in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.