Record Number of Islander Staff and Faculty Serve Community During Giving Tuesday 2019
Record Number of Islander Staff and Faculty Serve Community During Giving Tuesday 2019
With more than 380 volunteers on the ground, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi created a wave of Islander spirit and pride throughout the Coastal Bend during the annual global day of giving event, Giving Tuesday, held Dec. 3. The day celebrated acts of volunteerism as staff and faculty donated their time at 24 service locations around the community. Together staff and faculty contributed 1,072 hours of service to the community in just one day!
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With more than 380 volunteers on the ground, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi created a wave of Islander spirit and pride throughout the Coastal Bend during the annual global day of giving event, Giving Tuesday, held Dec. 3. The day celebrated acts of volunteerism as staff and faculty donated their time at 24 service locations around the community.
Volunteers rallied throughout the day helping organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, Coastal Bend Veterans Cemetery, and The USS Lexington among many others. Since the University’s very first Giving Tuesday event in 2013, staff and faculty participation has grown by more than 700 percent. Organizers say the number of volunteers not only shows the University’s commitment to the surrounding community, but also shows the power each Islander has to make a difference. This year volunteers contributed 1,072 hours of service to the community in just one day.
“It’s important that as we teach our students about giving back, we as staff and faculty go out there and work to set the example,” said Ann DeGaish, Associate Vice President Dean of Students and Chair of the Giving Tuesday planning committee. “It’s evident that groups we work with are so grateful for our participation. My hope for this event is that it continues to get bigger and bigger each year.”
Trent Thigpen, Pollution Prevention Partnership and AutoCheck Program Manager, has been a Giving Tuesday volunteer for three years. This year, he spent his volunteer time picking up trash from the Oso Bay on Ward Island’s hike-and-bike trail.
“I chose my site because I wanted to work outside and protect the ecosystem,” said Thigpen. “It is fundamental to our University’s mission to serve the community, and this event is simply one more way of doing what we as Islanders do every day.”
