AUSTIN, Texas—More than 2,000 students and other members of The University of Texas at Austin community will be clearing brush, landscaping playgrounds and picking up trash in the Montopolis neighborhood in southeast Austin on Saturday, Feb. 15, as volunteers in the university’s Project 2003 community service project.
The volunteers will work in shifts with residents of the Montopolis neighborhood from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., said Glen Baumgart of the Volunteer and Service Learning Center in the university’s Dean of Students office. He said they would work at the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado Park, Allison Elementary School and other sites throughout the neighborhood. They also will provide general cleaning and light maintenance at the homes of several elderly people in the neighborhood.
“The goal of Project 2003 is to bring together more than 2000 university students and community supporters to make a difference in a local community and to share the gift of volunteerism,” said Baumgart. “Our students, along with staff from Keep Austin Beautiful and the Austin Parks Foundation, have worked together all year in preparation for this event. Numerous donors and supporters, including Home Depot, Advance Food Corporation and Tokyo Electronics, have offered assistance to help make the event a success.”
Project 2003 will be the fifth annual major service event coordinated by students from the university. The first event took place in 1999 when students collaborated with Keep Austin Beautiful to create a large-scale service event. The first year effort, Project 1000, was aimed at renovating a public-owned housing complex in East Austin. Hoping to get 1,000 volunteers, the student leaders were surprised to see more than 2,000 students participate. Since that first year, more than 6,000 students from The University of Texas at Austin have volunteered more than 24,000 service hours to the Austin community. Support and donations led by gifts from Advanced Food Corporation and Home Depot have totaled well over $50,000. Previous project sites have included the Rosewood housing complex in 1999, Cesar Chavez neighborhood in 2000, Springdale neighborhood in 2001 and Bouldin Creek neighborhood in 2002.
Baumgart said supporters for Project 2003 include the Austin Parks Foundation, Tokyo Electronics, Austin Radio Communications, BFI, Coke-Cola, Glad Products, B and D Cleaners, Capital Metro, The University of Texas at Austin’s Physical Plant and the Division of Recreational Sports, Allison Elementary School/AISD, and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
For more information contact: Glen Baumgart, Office of the Dean of Students, 512-232-2930, or Robert D.Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
