BOSTON, September 20 – Lorraine Janick, of South Hero, Vt., will head to Alabama’s Gulf Coast this fall to volunteer in two back-to-back, six-day service learning programs offered by Elderhostel, the world’s largest not-for-profit educational travel organization for older adults.

Janick moved to South Hero from New Jersey more than a decade ago after retiring as an elementary school teacher. Lifelong learning has always been important to Janick. She has attended a total of 30 Elderhostel programs including six service learning programs that have ranged from park trail reconstruction in the Adirondacks to maintaining the “Mighty Mo,” the world’s last active battleship, in Pearl Harbor during the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“The best thing about the service learning programs is that I come away from the experience learning something new,” Janick says. “In the Adirondacks we were literally building a ‘turnpike.’ Each [program] is unique and I have yet to meet anyone who is not there to help. I come away receiving far more than I have given to the projects.”

The Alabama programs are offered in September and October in association with Habitat for Humanity and the University of South Alabama. Janick and other Elderhostelers will work side by side with homeowners to rebuild Gulf Coast homes. A professional staff leads the home construction process — from raising a roof to laying floor tile — and discusses day-to-day challenges in helping reconstruct Gulf Coast communities that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005.

“I would have considered going to a third week of the program if I didn’t already have a commitment,” Janick says. “If I can help one family get into a home, it will be worth it.”

Elderhostel, founded in 1975, is the world’s largest not-for-profit educational travel organization for older people. More than 160,000 participants enroll in Elderhostel’s nearly 8,000 programs annually. Elderhostel provides exceptional learning adventures throughout the United States and Canada and in more than 90 countries around the world. In 2004, Elderhostel launched Road Scholar to meet the needs of a new generation of independent educational travelers. For more information, please visit www.elderhostel.org or www.roadscholar.org.