Need a clean up or fix it? Students working for a good cause

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - If you have an odd job at your house that you’ve been meaning to finish, March 4th could be your lucky day.

That’s when some Chemical Engineering students at Texas Tech are planning to volunteer their time to help you, and in turn, raise some money for an important program at the Health Sciences Center.

Every year since 2008, these students have been volunteering a day out of their studies in the spring to clean up, repair, or do any odd job you don’t want to do, or maybe can’t do anymore.

Melinda Corwin, Ph.D., explains, “They go out in the community and they work for people in their homes for donations and they turn around and give all that money to the Stroke and Recovery Aphasia program. And we’re very grateful for the work these students do.”

Melinda is the director of the STAR program at TTUHSC. It provides hands-on therapy for patients in this area who have suffered a stroke or brain injury that left them struggling to communicate. She says none of us can imagine how much these donations add up to help give a voice to some people who thought they’d never have that again.

She says, “The STAR program provides funding for people who might not otherwise have access to speech and language therapy and the ability to work on their improvement in communication.”

Ironically, you can get a job fixed at home and the students say they get a welcome break from studying. So it’s a win, win for everybody.

Emilie Sulik is the Vice President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering student chapter at Texas Tech. She is also organizing this massive fundraiser this year. She says it’s not a dreaded workday for the students because they look forward to leaving the campus and spending a few hours interacting with someone who lives here.

She says, “Just getting to interact with Lubbock community members and hear some of their stories because as college students, we don’t always get to do that.”

If you have a job for the students and would like to make a donation to the STAR program at Texas Tech, just call (806) 743-9050. Explain your job request for either the morning or afternoon of March 4th.

Dr. Corwin says you may need to leave a message, but someone will get back to you.

By the way, I have done this myself. I made a donation when the students agreed to take apart a water-damaged piano so I could make something clever with the keys. I haven’t made my masterpiece yet…haha… but the students did a great job and we enjoyed visiting with them.

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