Originally published March 2, 2016
By Daniel Perez
UTEP Communications
Look at the roster of volunteers who participated in The University of Texas at El Paso’s seventh annual Project MOVE and you will see people from different parts of the region, different parts of the country and different parts of the world. Their common denominator was Miner pride and a desire to serve the community.
Approximately 1,440 orange-clad UTEP students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends gathered on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016, to spread the Miner spirit of community service at 60 work sites across the Paso del Norte region. The volunteers were asked to landscape, paint, construct mobility ramps, instruct young athletes, interact with the elderly and infirm, share fire safety information, prepare community gardens, assist with general clean up, and much more.
Cecyl Castanon, a junior biological sciences major, and about 120 other Miners worked at Camp Pioneer, a facility operated by the Yucca Council Boy Scouts of America in Sunland Park, New Mexico. The El Paso native and first-generation college student said this was her first experience with Project MOVE, which stands for Miner Opportunities for Volunteer Experiences, but it will not be the last.
Castanon said she participated as a member of UTEP’s Student Leadership Institute and Alpha Xi Delta sorority, but was regrouped with other Miners to clear one of the “bunny” trails around the 22-acre complex. She said her group’s job was to cut branches from the large, dead trees that blocked the wide pathways. Castanon smiled as she recollected the experience.
“I just thought it was really fun,” Castanon.said. “I really liked helping the community. I was glad to be part of it.”
The goal of Project MOVE is to encourage UTEP students to volunteer their time to help nonprofit groups and the population they serve. This is an opportunity for students to see the need and to be able to make a positive change. Organizers hope it plants the seed of community involvement that the student will cultivate as they join the workforce in El Paso or around the world.
Senior criminal justice major Leon Santoyo said his efforts to enhance the USO at Fort Bliss brought back a lot of memories from when he was an active duty Marine who frequented USOs at airports for conversation and a bite to eat. He and members of UTEP’s Military Student Success Center and the Military Student Association helped organize donations, move furniture and paint walls. Their goal was to give soldiers a better place to relax.
“Helping at the USO was significant to me because of how I used to benefit from it – a lot,” said Santoyo, who also works at the Military Student Success Center. He volunteered to return to the Army post the following weekend to continue the renovations. “It was very rewarding to me. I know we made a difference.”
The staff at SunRidge at Cambria, an assisted living complex on El Paso’s far east side, praised the enthusiasm and work ethic of the UTEP volunteers. About 80 students from UTEP’s Texas Nursing Student Association interacted with the elderly residents, planted flowers in the outside gardens and put up seasonal decorations in the common areas.
“As always, the UTEP volunteers were eager to help,” said Rosie Torres, the SunRidge life enrichment director. She said the students interacted with the residents, from playing table games to polishing fingernails. “The residents really enjoy when they visit. They are happy to see the students. They are an excellent group of young adults.”
The sense of collaboration generated by the University and the community’s nonprofit agencies is the reason Project MOVE is successful, said Ryan Holmes, Ed.D., assistant vice president for student support and the program’s lead organizer.
“Awesome. Just awesome,” Holmes said of the response to this year’s event. “To see the enthusiasm and the collaborative spirit surrounding each project was simply amazing. This gives me the fuel I need to make it to Project MOVE 2017.”
To see a Project MOVE photo gallery, click here.