Aggies—100 Or More—To Caravan To West Saturday To Assist In Explosion Recovery Efforts

From TAMUtimes

Published: May 3, 2013

More than 100 Texas A&M University students are set to convoy to West Saturday morning (May 4) to help that ravaged Central Texas town continue to recover from the devastating April 17 fertilizer plant explosion.

The Aggies will travel in a three-bus caravan led by one of the university’s “Aggie Spirit” transports. The service-oriented trip is being coordinated by a group of student leaders, the Department of Student Activities and the Division of Student Affairs, with financial assistance provided by Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp.

For some of the Aggies, it will be a break from final exams that began Friday and continue Monday. For virtually all of them, it will be a continuation of a commitment to community service that is personified by “Big Event,” in which they turn out annually in mass for fix-up/clean-up projects in the Bryan-College Station area, and earlier this year branched out to help with massive pine tree replanting efforts at fire-ravaged Bastrop State Park.

Aggies’ willingness to help when needed carries out one of the core values at Texas A&M—selfless service.

The students are scheduled to link up Red Cross representatives and others involved in the continuing recovery efforts and provide all possible assistance within their capabilities. Tentative plans call for the Aggies to assist in Red Cross efforts to further organize and categorize donations and supplies that have been sent to West as part of its recovery efforts.

This will be the Aggies’ second convoy to West, university officials noted. The first was spontaneous, after the students conducted informal efforts to collect necessities for residents in West in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and then loaded up private vehicles and set out on the 100-mile drive.

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Media contact: Lane Stephenson, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4662