More than 70 T-birds aid the community

Braving unseasonably hot temperatures, more than 70 Thunderbird students and staff recently gathered to help write resumes for women living in an abuse shelter, to build houses for low-income families and to clean up at a second-hand shop.

“Together, in one day we managed to significantly improve living conditions for a family in Glendale, assist women at a domestic violence shelter with their career search, manage donations at a youth outreach center, help with organization at charitable second hand store, and build houses for deserving families,” said Thomas D. Alston the Community Outreach Chair for the Thunderbird Student Government (TSG).

The five organizations that volunteers donated their time to on May 21 included: Habitat for Humanity, Faith House, the City of Glendale, Home Base Youth Service and St. Vincents de Paul. Volunteers met at Thunderbird early in the morning and then worked through the early afternoon in temperatures that reached 110 degrees for the day, setting a new heat record in Arizona for that date.

The bulk of volunteers worked with Habitat for Humanity, building houses in Glendale for low-income residents, from assisting with build framework and putting up drywall to installing windows and painting. Female volunteers helped women living at the Faith House, a domestic abuse shelter, to conduct job searches and write résumés. City of Glendale volunteers spread five tons of landscaping rock and did general maintenance at the home of an elderly couple. Home Based Youth Service volunteers helped sort donations and St. Vincent de Paul helpers clean and stock inventory at a local store.

An even higher percentage of students were involved in this second Thunderbird Cares Day than the first event held back in January, Alston said.

“It is encouraging to see that the word is getting out about this new campus tradition,” he said.

According to Alston, the Thunderbird Student Government plans to partner more closely with the local alumni chapters to reach a goal of more than 200 volunteers for the next Cares Day. The TSG also will seek help from alumni to create a program, already in place at many top MBA programs, where students are given a chance to act as non-voting board member of a charitable organization.

“This ‘shadow board member program’ has the potential to give Thunderbird students a chance to contribute to philanthropic organizations while at the same time leveraging their MBA skills,” Alston said.

All future Thunderbird Cares Days will be held the first Saturday of each trimester, with the next one set for September 10.