In the wake of the recent disaster in Louisiana due to Hurricane Ida, TUVAC has partnered with the San Antonio Food Bank to gather donations for hurricane victims.
TUVAC is one of Trinity’s most prominent volunteer organizations, as Brynne Stevens, TUVAC executive coordinator and Trinity senior, explained.
“TUVAC stands for Trinity University Volunteer Action Community. We are a University Sponsored Organization [USO] which aims to connect Trinity students with volunteer opportunities on-campus and in the local San Antonio community. TUVAC is comprised of six student leaders (the executive team) and two staff advisors,” Brynne said.
One of the ways that TUVAC helps the San Antonio community is by partnering with the San Antonio Food Bank. According to its website, the food bank serves 120,000 individuals on a weekly basis, operating in one of the largest service areas in the state. Their goal is to provide clients with food immediately while providing resources for future self-sufficiency.
However, this time TUVAC is partnering with the San Antonio Food Bank to help those outside the San Antonio community.
“We are running a food drive to help get food and donations to support the people affected by the Hurricane Ida,” said Tyler Marcheli, junior and TUVAC coordinator for health and wellness.
According to Brynne, students can easily make their donations on campus.
“The TUVAC group… will be gathering donations through two red bins placed in the Coates Student Center and Mabee Dining Hall, and one green bin for pet food donations in the Coates Student Center. All donations will be collected and given to the San Antonio Food Bank, where other volunteers will sort and organize the supplies to send to those affected by Hurricane Ida,” Brynne said.
A list of what TUVAC needs can be found in a posting on GivePulse.
With Trinity being in the South, there are a lot of students who have personally experienced the destruction that hurricanes can cause. Students from Houston in particular have recent experience of that destruction, including Marcheli.
“I felt connected to this cause because Hurricane Harvey really affected the Houston area. Houston is my hometown and I was even personally affected by Hurricane Harvey. I knew how it was to be affected by flooding and lack of power. I just wanted to be able to give back and show our support for the Louisiana community,” Marcheli said.
Even people who have no personal experience with hurricanes have probably experienced some form of natural disaster in their life, and they can certainly imagine how much natural disasters can take from people.
“It’s important to help victims of natural disasters because they are people just like us. Sometimes life happens and we as a community need to come together to support each other. Natural disasters destroy everything in their surroundings. It’s more than just a flooded house or lack of food. It’s a person’s life,” Marcheli said.
Helping people recover from the sudden losses caused by natural disasters requires an immediate response from volunteers.
“As we [TUVAC] continue to provide opportunities for our most popular volunteer events, so too do we want to remain cognizant of the victims of emergency and unexpected crises. With natural disasters like Hurricane Ida, it is paramount to act quickly and efficiently. We hope that our food bank donations can play a small part in beginning to rebuild these communities and families,” Brynne said.
In addition to donating to the food drive at Trinity, you can also donate your food, time or money directly to the San Antonio Food Bank. You can learn more about how to give on the Ways to Help page of their website.
There are also many other organizations to which you can donate time or money for hurricane Ida relief, including All Hands and Hearts, Second Harvest Food Bank, AmeriCares, the Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Rebuilding Together New Orleans.