Schreiner Students Seek Out Ways to Volunteer in the Community

Kerrville, TX – The Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) and Schreiner University have teamed up to ensure students are able to volunteer to keep the Guadalupe River beautiful and clean. It also provides the students and staff a way to exhibit servant leadership and provides a way to solidify the partnership between the two to show mutual support.

“This year, we reimagined our large, one-day River Clean Up event into a flexible format that supports small groups who want to conduct a cleanup on their own,” said Ray Buck, UGRA General Manager. “This partnership with Schreiner University fits perfectly into our new model with the added benefit of fostering stewardship of the Guadalupe River among Schreiner students.”

The initiative is designed to allow Schreiner students the opportunity to volunteer in the community, care for our natural resources and show the students they have a home in the Hill Country.

“We wanted to make sure our students know they are a part of this community. They don’t just come here to take a couple of classes and then go away,” said Dr. Charlie McCormick, President of Schreiner University. “This is their home.”

By partnering with UGRA, Schreiner hopes to provide students an avenue to give back while helping to remove litter from the river and adjacent watershed. Similar to TXDOT’s “Adopt a Highway,” Schreiner University’s Coordinator of Purposeful Lives, Rev. Kelsey Penn, has “adopted” the segment of the Guadalupe River from G St. to the Schreiner campus, and Quinlan Creek up to Park St. Penn will oversee the volunteer students and coordinate with UGRA to provide equipment and supplies for the volunteers.

“We are excited to partner with UGRA in this endeavor because we really share a very basic core commitment — a commitment to the beauty and health of our river,” said Toby Appleton, Marketing and Communications Manager for Schreiner University. “Our students appreciate the beauty of the river and want to do their part to keep it clean.”

For more information about Schreiner and UGRA partnering, please contact Rev. Kelsey Penn, Coordinator of Purposeful Lives at Schreiner University, at kpenn@schreiner.edu.