The Transportation Services Department’s Community Involvement Committee delivered 481 pounds of nonperishable food to The 12th Can food pantry Monday afternoon.
The contribution is a part of the committee’s mission to to assist local charitable organizations. The committee consists of half a dozen members from across multiple units of the department and includes Anne LeGare, senior administrative coordinator of Transportation Services.
“It’s a good opportunity to show what Transportation Services is doing in the community,” LeGare said. “The committee came up with a list of about 15 organizations that we all voted on and decided. Some of them are our own that we do on the outside or things that we all thought as a group the department should do together, and the department has been super generous.”
Kelley Ervin, manager for human resources and payroll in Transportation Services, started the project two years ago and leads them in the coordination of new community outreach events every quarter.
“I thought it would be a good idea for the department to give back to the community so I formed this committee,” Ervin said.
This quarter’s donations began in February and went to multiple charitable causes, according to Ervin.
“We had planned to donate to the 12th Can this quarter but we’re also a part of an organization called Texas Parking and Transportation Association,” Ervin said. “They had a conference in Houston and they were raising food for the food bank down there for Hurricane Harvey. We donated to them, then members of our department took that to the conference to donate the food for us and the rest was donated to the 12th Can. It was kind of a combination.”
While this round of community service just wrapped up, plans for future events are in the near future.
“We will come up with another idea in June and see what our next organization will be and get that going,” Ervin said.
Miranda Barrios, facilities director at The 12th Can and international studies junior, welcomed the Community Involvement Committee when they unloaded the food Monday afternoon.
“The 12th Can is super grateful for everything that Transportation Services has done for us,” Barrios said. “They conduct many drives throughout the year. I can personally attest to the fact that the clients genuinely appreciate everything they donate. A lot of times drives will drop off the food and not care about the follow up but Transportation Services genuinely cares. … they really care about the impact they are making on the community.”