UPDATED AT 11:19 P.M. JAN. 18, 2019:
About 300 volunteers from the UTRGV community are expected to participate in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
Vanessa Sandoval, program coordinator for the Office of Leadership and Change, said the national Day of Service is about bringing Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to life.
“Serving one another and giving back to their community and providing that opportunity for our students,” Sandoval said. “We make it a day on, not a day off.”
The goal for this year is to surpass 300 volunteers on both campuses, Sandoval said. “We almost reached it, 300 volunteers and that is with Edinburg and Brownsville combined.”
The UTRGV community can volunteer at 17 different sites in the Valley.
In Cameron County, students can volunteer at places including Spanish Meadows Nursing Home, the Sabal Palm Sanctuary and Good Neighbor Settlement House.
In Hidalgo County, students can help out at Palm Valley Animal Center, McAllen Nature Center and the Salvation Army, among others.
Volunteers should register at their locations at 8 a.m. and depart at noon, according to the UTRGV website.
Agencies are always looking forward to have UTRGV involved in community service, Sandoval said.
“They call around this time to see if we can return to a lot of these sites, like Sabal Palm, for instance,” she said. “We kept, like, a good communication and a good relationship, so every year we go with them and they really enjoy that.”
Any UTRGV student, staff or faculty member may register to participate through the Engagement Zone.
Besides the MLK Day of Service, those who are interested in more service opportunities can visit ez.utrgv.edu.
