UTSA student-athletes plant fruit trees in the orchard at Mission San Juan on Saturday, November 7.
NOVEMBER 13, 2020 — UTSA student and staff volunteers benefitted the San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB) during Roadrunners Giveback, the annual UTSA Homecoming service project. On November 6 and 7, 95 UTSA student and staff volunteers turned their focus to the environment and food insecurity by helping the SAFB with outdoor projects.
The San Antonio Food Bank provides food and grocery products to 16 counties throughout South Texas and has quickly grown to serve 58,000 individuals each week. SAFB fights hunger and feeds hope in South Texas through food distribution, programs, education and advocacy.
On Friday, November 6, Roadrunners volunteered for a trash pick-up detail and to clean up vegetable beds at the San Antonio Urban Garden. Thirty-five volunteers collected 15 bags of trash and cleaned up about 15 acres of land at the SAFB Urban Garden. The following day, a team of UTSA students, including many UTSA athletic teams, volunteered at Mission San Juan, one of the SAFB partner locations. This group of students-athletes planted 115 fruit trees in the orchard.
During the experience, volunteers had the opportunity to reflect with the facilitators about the project and grew to better understand the SAFB motto: "Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope."
“Roadrunners Giveback was a nice change of scenery because it gave hope in a time when we are uncertain of almost everything,” said Ethan Guerrero of the Volunteer Organization Involving Community Education and Service (VOICES), the student organization for service at UTSA. “Even in the pandemic, Roadrunners are actively contributing to the change that this world needs. The workers at the San Antonio Food Bank said that they could not do what they are doing without volunteers and it truly made me feel like my impact was actually making a difference. Working together for a better world helped me focus on hope.”
“It was a really successful day,” added Steve Henson, head coach of UTSA men’s basketball. “We have volunteered with the San Anotnio Food Bank before, but this was a different opportunity to be outside and it was a great way to start off a Saturday. We love to say ‘yes’ to these opportunities. It felt good to be outside, during COVID-19 while staying safe—a definite win-win.”
“I think this was an amazing opportunity for us to give back to the community,” said Mia Perales, co-captain of the UTSA volleyball team. “Knowing that it will go back to the community is cool. (The team) looks forward to participating in other community service opportunities.”
Members of VOICES, the Pre-Medical Society, UTSA athletic teams, the Student Government Association, Honors College students, and fraternity and sorority life members were among the volunteers.
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