Days of Service
TTUHSC El Paso Employees, Students Give Back to Community During Days of Service Volunteer Event
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso faculty, staff and students spent time volunteering in the community April 21-23 for the university’s second annual Days of Service event held during National Volunteer Month.
More than 100 volunteers spent a collective 420 hours working at 22 local sites during this year’s Days of Service hosted by TTUHSC El Paso’s Office of Outreach and Community Engagement. Fifteen community organizations participated in the event.
“Service is not only one of our key values, but it's also a way to improve lives and demonstrate in a tangible way support in our community, which has invested in the university for over 50 years,” said Richard Lange, M.D., M.B.A., TTUHSC El Paso president and Foster School of Medicine dean.
Vutha Nhim, a second-year student at the Foster School of Medicine, volunteered all three days at the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank. Although it was his first time participating in Days of Service, he previously volunteered during the university’s MLK Day of Service event in 2020 and 2021. Every year, TTUHSC El Paso students perform community service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They also participate in Corazón de Oro, a service event held in the fall.
“It was an incredible experience to participate in Days of Service and work toward a shared goal of improving the lives of people in El Paso and the surrounding areas,” Nhim said. “It also was a wonderful opportunity to meet and work alongside students, faculty, staff, members of the community and various organizations serving El Paso.”
TTUHSC El Paso volunteers worked on landscaping and set up enrichment activities for animals at the Humane Society of El Paso, sorted donations at the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, assisted with food distribution at the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank and more. Other volunteer sites included the El Paso Zoological Society, the Socorro Ramirez Community Center and the Salvation Army of El Paso.
In addition to volunteering, the TTUHSC El Paso community held a food drive on campus for both Siguiendo Los Pasos de Jesus and the Animal Rescue League of El Paso.
Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., professor and vice president for outreach and community engagement at TTUHSC El Paso, said the purpose of the TTUHSC El Paso Days of Service is to demonstrate, in a highly visible way, our appreciation for the many partners that help the university accomplish our missions of education, service and research in the Borderplex.
“Volunteerism, and in particular service learning, is important for students as it’s a documented part of TTUHSC El Paso’s values-based culture,” Dr. de la Rosa said. “Similarly, employees at our university give back to the community as part of our focus on improving the region, inspiring our students and passing on those values as they progress in their education.”
Engagement between TTUHSC El Paso and residents of the Borderplex region takes many forms, ranging from outreach to scholarship and research aimed at creating a healthier future for generations of community members. Days of Service is one more example of the university’s volunteerism, with TTUHSC El Paso students devoting over 19,000 hours to volunteer work annually.
About TTUHSC El Paso
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It is designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.
Check out our photos from the Days of Service event:
