Here’s a feel-good story for Friday. The personal politics of these students doesn’t matter because they’re giving their time to a noble cause.

Bravo.

Stephanie Wang of the Indianapolis Star reports.

Celebrating spring break by helping others

Last year, IUPUI student Cole Johnson found himself on spring break in Florida amid the hordes of college partiers celebrating a week of bikinis and booze.

And he spent 168 hours not making a difference in anyone’s life.

“It was almost moving backward,” said Johnson, 22. “I didn’t see a point to it anymore.”

This week, Johnson is leading a group of students from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to work on a farm in Virginia. An “alternative” spring break program, the substance-free trip explores food production and sustainability.

He’s among a growing number of college students who are giving up the traditional go-wild spring break in favor of service learning trips. Indiana colleges say their alternative spring break programs are gaining momentum as students become more aware of social issues on a global scale.

“Sometimes, you have literally no idea what you’re going to get into,” said Johnson, a senior studying supply chain management. “That’s one of the beautiful things about the program. It teaches you to be adaptable and teaches you transferable skills.”

This month, degree-seeking Hoosiers will work with newly arrived immigrant families in Texas, a food bank in Washington, D.C. and Native American communities in Tennessee and New Mexico. They will build houses through Habitat for Humanity in Missouri, repair homes in the Appalachian Mountains and improve the quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS in Indianapolis.