Wartburg College has claimed the No. 2 spot in the 2013-14 Break Away National Chapter Survey of alternative breakers.

During this academic year, 245 Wartburg students (14.2 percent) participated in 24 trips organized by the Service Trips program and student leaders. Students visited locations from Denver, Colorado, to Gladstone, Virginia, to New Orleans, Louisiana, to partake in projects helping with flood recovery, sustainability, homelessness, hunger and several other social issues.

Break Away, founded in 1991, is a national nonprofit promoting quality alternative break programs where college students can engage in meaningful volunteer service. Rollins (Florida) College earned the No. 1 spot with 15.71 percent participation.

Wartburg finished fourth a year ago. It was No. 1 in 2009-10.

Kristin Teig Torres, assistant director and service-learning coordinator, said this ranking illustrates the college’s long-standing commitment to the value of Service Trips and the connection to the college’s mission of leadership, service, faith and learning.

“Wartburg students flourish through the Service Trips program,” Torres said. “They discover so much about themselves and their world by serving others. The lessons learned on a service trip cannot be duplicated in the classroom.”

Jenna Manders ’15, Service Trips student director from Dubuque, said the second-place finish was especially exciting in what was considered a “rebuilding year” for the program.

“We tried new things with the leader recruitment process and a Thanksgiving Break trip,” she said. “We won’t be able to continue that trip next year because of the academic calendar, but I think we were able to get more students involved this year who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to go.”

According to the report, the 17,657 students from the 145 schools participating in this year’s survey ventured out on 1,551 trips. They partnered with 1,993 community organizations and logged more than 1.3 million hours of service.