Bauer Gives Back: Seeing a Need, Meeting a Need
Bauer Gives Back: Undergraduate Business Programs Staff Help to Provide Glasses to Students in Need at Cullen Middle School
Published on November 29, 2012
Bauer program coordinator Jonathan Hill and program manager Joyce Williams are two Bauer staff who go above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference.
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series called “Bauer Gives Back,” which will run through the rest of the Fall 2012 semester. With weekly updates each Friday, Bauer Gives Back will highlight volunteer activities and charitable efforts of students, staff, faculty and alumni of the college.
Children across the area have been penning letters to Santa and dropping hints to their parents on presents they’d love to receive this holiday season. A group of students from Cullen Middle School got to unwrap a very special and much needed gift in November, thanks to help from Bauer College staff.
Joyce Williams and Jonathan Hill, who work in the college’s Undergraduate Business Programs office, partnered with UH Mobile Eye Institute director D. G Gavin Gerondale, Graduate School of Social Work Research Professor Larry Hill, Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) executive director Jean Kegler and “Be a Champion” CEO Jaron Barganier to deliver eyeglasses to Cullen students.
A group of Bauer students including Sean Amenson, Vugar Asadov, Jacob De Castro, Micheal Haskins, Anum Lalani, Timothy Paz and Selena Salinas were also involved in organizing the project through their GENB 2301 class.
“I felt Christmas arrived early when the 29 students received their glasses,” said Brendia Winters, a registered nurse at Cullen. “The students were so excited! They were comparing their glasses with one another. When I heard statements like, ‘I can really see now, and I look good,’ it confirms that a great service was done, and my heart was filled with joy.”
The college’s Undergraduate Business Programs office frequently participates in outreach efforts aimed at the middle school students in the Houston area.
“I give back because growing up, I didn’t really have anyone besides my mother who looked out for me,” said Hill, a program coordinator in the office. “I was always fending for myself. I give back for that reason. I know what it’s like to be that age, with the insecurities, so I try to be a helping hand where I can.”
Williams, a program manager in the office, echoed that sentiment and noted the importance of getting involved with youth who are at a critical point in their lives.
"I believe in the African proverb, 'it takes a village to raise a child,'" she said. "I was blessed to have people in my life to direct me, and I feel as though it's my turn to give back to others."
The next installment of Bauer Gives Back will be posted on www.bauer.uh.edu on Friday, Dec. 7. Do you have a suggestion for someone who should be recognized? Email Director of Communications Jessica Navarro at jnavarro@bauer.uh.edu.