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Posted: 7/02/20

TAMIU Community Garden Launches 24-Hour Online Donation Campaign

 

TAMIU Community Garden
 

Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Service-Learning Center is gearing up to launch a 24-hour online donation campaign, beginning Wednesday, July 8, to help support ongoing efforts by the TAMIU Community Garden to encourage and support food sustainability. 

Donations can be made through the Community Garden’s website, at https://go.tamiu.edu/garden-donation.The collected funds will be used to purchase a shed to store equipment and materials to support the Garden. 

Managed and maintained by University Service-Learning Center staff members, the Garden helps educate University students and the community-at-large on issues like food security, environmental sustainability, and healthy eating habits.

Individuals also learn more about general gardening practices they can emulate at home to help produce their own food.

This past Spring 2020 semester, students enrolled in the University Signature Course: Climate Change and Sustainability worked together to plant 24 gardening beds containing cucumber, tomato, carrots, beets, zucchini, Swiss chard, peppers and herbs.

The harvested vegetables were distributed to the community during two drive-thru harvest pick-up events that distributed over 150 bags of vegetables, and to students residing in either of the University’s Residential Living communities. Donations were also made to local non-profit organizations, including Bethany House and the South Texas Food Bank.

“The Community Garden serves as the catalyst for several important conversations and awareness of current social issues. It has been an extension of students’ learning in the classroom about crucial subjects like climate change, environmental sustainability, food security, mental health, wellness, and community outreach,” said Dr. Marcela Uribe, Service-Learning Center director.

“Access to food during the COVID 19 pandemic has become a big issue in our community, and we have been able to contribute alongside partner organizations, such as Bethany House of Laredo and the South Texas Food Bank, to help serve our community,” explained Dr. Uribe.  

Future endeavors for the Community Garden include the formation of a Garden Council to partake in the gardening experience, as well as adding a pollinator section to the Garden and shaded areas for plants.

For more information on the TAMIU Community Garden, contact the University’s Service-Learning Center at 956.326.3135, email servicelearning@tamiu.edu, or visit online at https://go.tamiu.edu/garden.

Additional information on the University’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 Pandemic is available on its online COVID-19 Response Center, located at https://www.tamiu.edu/coronavirus/index.shtml

Registration for Fall 2020 is now underway. TAMIUFlex, Hybrid, Face-to-Face and online courses will all have the same tuition rates. An online catalog containing a list of all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs is at http://catalog.tamiu.edu

TAMIU  ranks 5th in the nation among the 100 Most Affordable Public Schools with the Highest Return on Investment (ROI), according to ranking authority Great Value Colleges. U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Edition of its popular Best Colleges guide ranks TAMIU as the second highest-ranked Texas public university in its Best Regional Universities West category and the highest-ranked regional campus of the Texas A&M University System.

Most recently, TAMIU earned a top tier ranking for its COVID-19 Pandemic response. The 2020 Educate to Career College ranking placed TAMIU in Tier I for colleges and universities that have responded to the pandemic in ways that benefit and protect students, especially in terms of available online learning resources. Some 1200 colleges across the nation were reviewed.

As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, TAMIU’s campus is closed only to the general public. Entry to campus continues for students, faculty, staff and those having legitimate reasons to be on campus. Online and virtual services at the University continue, practicing all CDC Guidelines on gathering, masking and social distancing and with most staff working remotely.  

Office hours are subject to change and it is recommended that phone or email contact be made first to determine the office’s schedule of operation.  An online directory is here.