Bulls that serve seeks to bring awareness to issues impacting the St. Petersburg community, such as homelessness, littering, and food insecurity.
Photo by Alisha Durosier | The Crow’s Nest.
By Alisha Durosier
Officially introduced last fall, Bulls that Serve, a club at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, has started its mission to encourage students to get involved, volunteer and serve the St. Petersburg community.
Alongside weekly meetings, the club has hosted several events and initiatives this past semester, including litter pickups, rock painting, a beach cleanup, a campus clean up following Hurricane Idalia and an ongoing toy drive for children in treatment at John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
“We’re just hoping to get people more involved in the community and thinking more outside of themselves and the school, also thinking more about how they can help other people, not just peers, but also thinking about life outside of our little bubble of college,” President Brooke Estrada said.
“It’s nice to have other people who are interested in the same thing so that we can all do it together instead of feeling like we’re just one person, like we’re alone, So I think being with other people makes it easier to get out there and volunteer in the first place,” Marketing Officer Kiki Augustine said.
Photo by Alisha Durosier | The Crow’s Nest
Providing volunteer hours to students and expanding to incorporate others outside of USF St. Petersburg, like students from other campuses or local organizations are among the milestones of Bull that Serve. However, as they move forward and continuously create new goals, awareness remains at the forefront of their focus.
“Our main overall goal is just to get students on campus involved,” Estrada said. “It’s important that we pay attention to our surroundings and notice that everyone goes through phases in their lives or they need a little extra help.
“Some people are not from St. Pete, like I’m not originally from St. Pete. So, knowing different social issues going around makes me want to make a difference and hopefully we can get that same reaction from students as well,” Treasurer Sha’Tina Scott said.
Discussion of establishing a club that centers community service began after a week-long community service trip hosted by USF St. Petersburg’s Leadership and Student Organizations office. Many of the club’s current officers attended the trip last year during spring break. Taking place in Atlanta attendees worked alongside organizations that focused on supporting those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.
“Part of the point of the volunteer service trip that we went on, it was a travel opportunity, but they also expressed to us that it’s important to help out in our own community. So, we were thinking we don’t have to go somewhere to volunteer. There’s always an opportunity to volunteer,” Augustine said.
The club aims to operate by a “see a need, fill a need” model that its previous events and current initiatives, like beach and litter cleanups, already reflect.
“After the hurricane, there was a lot that needed to be done. So, we kind of stepped forward and contributed to help out,” club member Emilia Wrucke said. “We’re right by the ocean as well. So, we’re impacted personally a lot by our environment. So, it is important to take care of that since we’re so interconnected with it and involved with it.”
Bulls that Serve holds meetings every Thursday at 4 p.m. in The Source, located in the Student Life Center. To keep up with upcoming events, students can follow their Instagram: bts_usfsp.
