Bauer students organized the Run For Recess 5k marathon at Frontier Fiesta to raise money to improve a local playground for underprivileged kids.
The funds raised by the Students In Free Enterprise marathon will benefit the Barrio Student Center, an after school tutoring house for underprivileged elementary and middle school students.
“We believe education is very important and know that kids need a break once in a while to breathe,” said SIFE president Renderos. “The playground was no longer safe so we wanted to keep the children safe and have them want to come to tutoring every day.”
Accounting junior Lizzeth Martinez said building the playground gave students a chance to make a difference in children’s lives.
“The center is located about five minutes away from the University and we wanted to do something that will make a difference in the kids life,” Martinez said. “SIFE and the Barrio Center are a perfect match, we want to better our community and what best way to do so with the kids of our future.”
SIFE, an international organization in which UH’s chapter began the fall of 2010 as a course project, strives to create projects that better and empower the community financially, environmentally and socially, said Martinez.
“These kids are our future and we want to plant a seed in their mind that working hard and setting goals of attending a University will be rewarding,” said Martinez. “By setting an example right now there will be more and more of these underprivileged kids that will be more prone to become successful later on in life.”
The marathon brought in $3,000 towards the playground, Renderos said.
“Something small like a playground can make a huge difference in their life and it is a great feeling to know that I was part of something this big,” said Martinez.
