• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

Two UA students use their Alternative Spring Break experience to start a new campus club.

By Rebecca Ruiz-McGill, University Communications
October 17, 2008

A new service club at The University of Arizona has sprung up from a most unlikely source. United Way Students in Action is the brainchild of two first-year UA students who dedicated their spring break earlier this year to help clean up after Hurricane Rita.

Hurricane Rita is the fourth most intense Atlanta hurricane ever recorded, according to the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center. The storm surge from Rita in September 2005 leveled coastal communities in southwestern Louisiana and caused $10 billion in damage along the U.S. Golf Coast.

UA students Iris Alfaro and Dana Becker signed on to help clean up Lake Charles, La., the community near where the hurricane made landfall. Three years after the storm, the students found Lake Charles still desperately needing help.

"I learned about the effort to help clean up after Rita though the Alternative Spring Break Program and couldn't decide whether I should commit $700 for the flight," Alfaro said. "Up until the night before the flight was to leave, I cried over not knowing what to do and made my decision to go."

She paid for the flight Louisiana out of pocket and said her mother urged her to go if she thought the trip was important. Alfaro left the for Louisiana the following morning after her conversation with her mother.

While in Louisiana Alfaro met Becker and two other UA students who also had decided to do something for others on their Spring Break. The four of them joined larger groups of students from other campuses and began tearing down homes, painting, installing sheet rock, filling sand boxes and even spent time playing with neighborhood kids who had become used to making due with very little.

Becker, a psychology sophomore, was committed to continuing on with her philanthropic endeavors. When she returned to Tucson, she and Alfaro joined to form the new UA United Way Students in Action Club to benefit the Tucson community. She cajoled her father into joining her for a medical mission to Costa Rica in 2007 and the bug to help others never went away. Becker is now president of the UA club.

"I moved to Tucson from Scottsdale and had found it difficult to get to know Tucson as a community. The trips to Louisiana and Costa Rica opened my eyes to community need. Part of having fun is getting involved. I wanted to help and so did other students and we all thought it was important to get out of the dorm and off campus," said Becker.

Alfaro, an undeclared major, is a graduate of Pueblo High School in Tucson. She is attending the UA as a "Building the Future Scholar," a program that adopted a third-grade class at C.E. Rose Elementary School in Tucson and promised a four-year tuition ride to the UA for students who completed high school and met UA admission requirements.

"There is always need in the world and being Hispanic, my dad is from El Salvador and my mom is from Mexico, our culture is to give to others before ourselves. We do it at meals and we do it in other ways. As a scholarship recipient, I wanted to share the philosophy of helping others," Alfaro said.

Becker also speaks enthusiastically about the activities she has planned for the club. "We have joined with the local United Way Charter and have already participated in some of their on-going events, but we want to join with them to create our own club-led community activities," Becker said.

The United Way works to advance the common good, creating opportunities for a better life for all by working to help children and youth achieve their potential, promoting financial stability and independence and improving health care. The UA is one of United Way's community partners and through the UA Cares program provides an opportunity for the university community to donate time, energy and money to the organization.

Arezu Corella, an academic advising coordinator with the UA department of psychology, is the club's mentor and helped students get the club up and running. Alicynn King, the resource development director for United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, also mentors the students.

The new Associated Students of the UA club has already grown from the initial four enthusiasts to some 40 students who have expressed interest in contributing and joining. The club already is making plans to aid the Tucson community during Thanksgiving and Christmas.