Members of the Enactus chapter at UTRGV are shown with student participants in the chapter’s Sustainable Opportunities for Advancement in Recruiting project during a field trip to the Sea Turtle Inc. conservation and rehabilitation facility on South Padre Island. Enactus’ SOAR project won 11th place at the World Cup Qualifier Semi-Final League Pairings at the Enactus United States National Exposition. Courtesy Photo
Two projects by the student chapter of Enactus at UTRGV have placed first and 11th in a national competition hosted by the organization on Long Island in New York.
Enactus is an international organization dedicated to improving the world in accordance with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.
“Enactus is a student organization,” said Maria Leonard, the faculty adviser for UTRGV’s Chapter of Enactus and an assistant professor of practice in the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship. “It was started in the 1970s by Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, and the idea behind creating this organization was to get business students to go out into their community and use their talent and their knowledge to help their community.”
In the Rio Grande Valley, the chapter has organized many projects to help the community. This includes Nutrisol, the project that won first place in the Early Stage Competition Pairings at the Enactus United States National Exposition.
Nutrisol is a program designed to inspire students to eat better and provide better food options, according to Enactus Vice President Aylin Salinas, a management senior. The chapter is working with the Hub of Prosperity, a farm dedicated to teaching people how to cultivate crops, and in the future there will be activities on campus centered on healthier eating.
“We’re only working in the university right now, not so much the Valley in general,” Leonard said. “But we just want to effect change in the way that our students see the way that they eat, because there are no healthy options on campus.”
Today, Enactus will host its first awareness program, a cook-off at 10 a.m. in the Health Sciences Building on the Edinburg campus among various chefs in the Valley, using food from the Hub of Prosperity and the UTRGV Student Food Pantry.
The Nutrisol project is not Enactus’ only venture. Members also have been working on the Sustainable Opportunities for Advancement in Recruiting, or SOAR project, which recently placed 11th in the World Cup Qualifier Semi-Final League Pairings at the Enactus United States National Exposition, which took place April 21-22.
“Individuals with autism, especially young adults, when they age out of high school, for example, they have a hard time getting a job,” Leonard said. “ … We saw a need and we decided to help.”
Partnering with Workforce Solutions, Enactus created a curriculum for people who need to develop their social skills. This includes subjects such as time management, goal setting, conflict resolution, communication and customer service. When the students graduate from the course, each receives a paid internship from Workforce Solutions.
Last Thursday, 12 students graduated from the course and are in the process of receiving their internships.
Other projects Enactus has worked on include Cansgiving, which is an annual charity drive to raise food for less fortunate families, and Financial Literacy, which trains students on the basics of managing their financial affairs.
