Bear Boots on the Ground, a disaster relief initiative at the University of Central Arkansas, will travel to hurricane-stricken areas during winter and spring breaks to perform cleanup.

A delegation of students, staff and faculty will travel to coastal North Carolina for winter break from Dec. 15-21. The group will partner with Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief for the North Carolina work.

For spring break, volunteers with Bear Boots on the Ground will travel to Puerto Rico from March 15-22. 

Bear Boots on the Ground volunteers also have the option of traveling to Memphis to participate in the Great Mississippi River Cleanup sponsored by Living Lands and Waters from March 17-22. 

“Our UCA community embodies one of our core values: service. When disasters and other crises occur in our neighboring states and beyond, our students, staff and faculty stand at the ready and are eager to help,” said Wendy Holbrook, assistant vice president for Student Engagement, Leadership and Service. “For students who can’t be away for several days, we will also offer local service opportunities in Conway and surrounding areas. These will be one-day, service opportunities that will benefit our local community.” 

The community can help support the Bear Boots on the Ground initiative with a tax-free, monetary donation to uca.edu/go/bearbootsontheground or by using CashApp @$BearBootsontheGround.

The UCA Division of Student Services, UCA Student Government Association, Office of the President and the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement have partnered to coordinate these volunteer efforts.

Bear Boots on the Ground has volunteered in several other disaster relief efforts including the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area after Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017; Pocahontas in May 2017 after floods; and Vilonia after the 2014 tornado.

For more information, visit uca.edu/servicelearning/bear-boots-on-the-ground-alternative-breaks/.