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ing community. I have volunteered at Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, which is an organization that builds homes for low-income families, and is currently working on an eight-home builds in Santa Paula, CA. I have also participated in countless Volunteer Projects with the CCE’s on their service days.” Elizabeth chooses to serve because of her sense of social responsibility to help address social issues. “I’m very passionate about prominent social issues, such as homelessness, drug addiction, domestic violence, etc. As a Political Science major, my goal is to work in Congress to fight current laws that are preventing progress in these areas.” During her undergraduate studies, Elizabeth became “even more inspired to fight these issues and work to help these people that desperately need it.”

Yareli Moreno, CSUCI class of 2022, studied Biology. “Moving from my small hometown, Delano, was a very daunting task,” Yareli recalls, “It was scary to move without any of my family and friends for support. But, I knew I wanted more academic and volunteer opportunities during my time in college. At the end of the day, it was a decision I made for myself.” Yareli has dedicated a lot of time volunteering to give back to the local community, primarily Oxnard, since it reminds her a bit of her hometown. “Where I grew up, there was a good number of underserved families, agricultural workers, and health disparities, but not enough volunteers. When I moved here, I found that Oxnard faces the same obstacles and just reminds me of a larger version of the city I know to be home.”

Yareli contributes to her CSUCI campus community by serving as the Community Service Events Organizer for the Empowered Womxn of Color Club. During Dia de Los Muertx, she celebrated this remembrance holiday in a meaningful way with her club; they were able to engage the campus community by making letters to loved ones that had passed and hung them up in a display to honor those individuals. “It made me happy to share a part of my culture with other students, especially those that did not know a lot about Dia de Los Muertx beforehand.”

In addition to this, Yareli was able to find meaningful volunteer experiences off-campus. She served in a local project that aimes to give backpacks and school supplies away for free to POC and underserved families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Oxnard (pictured below). “Families were lined up since the morning, and the drive ended around 5 pm. I was lucky to be there because a lot of volunteers did not speak Spanish and most recipients were Spanish speakers. I felt like my biggest contribution that day was being able to translate to make sure everyone got what they needed before they went back home.” Yareli has also volunteered with her family at a local food drive in Oxnard during Thanksgiving to serve food to families that could not afford their own dinner.