Rebels are known for making an impact in the communities they love. No project is too small to immediately impact someone’s life. UNLV has many great organizations that give back to the community — the Food Pantry, Rebel Recycling, and Rebels Give Back — just to name a few. These programs provide resources to help those in need and positively impact their lives.
Here’s a look at these three programs that had an impact this spring.
UNLV Food Pantry Farmers Market
The Farmers Market is a collaboration with Three Square and started as an independent studies project created by student CindyRomina Ballesteros-Paniagua to offer food for community members in need. While the UNLV Food Pantry is available only to students and faculty, anyone in the community can visit the farmers market. This event happens every second Saturday of the month (follow the Food Pantry on Instagram for the next event) and provides fresh produce, nonperishable food items, hygiene products, and more. In the first three months, the markets served more than 1,200 people with some of the items they need the most.
Move Out Recycling
In 1996, Rebel Recycling began collecting reusable items from the residence halls during the May move-out season. They placed cardboard boxes in residence hall lobbies and collected approximately 100 pounds of reusable items. By 2019, the program was collecting approximately 15,000 pounds of reusable items. And now in 2022, the partnership is a year-round effort.
Rebel Recycling has placed reusable donation bins on each floor of the residence halls —12 in all — and empties them weekly. This year, the teams collected approximately 5.8 tons of reusable items to donate to local charitable organizations. Bedding goes to local animal rescue foundations. Clothing and other items go to Goodwill, Savers, and a local church.
Reusing items has a significant environmental impact. It saves natural resources such as forests and water, reduces the energy needed to dismantle and manufacture products, lowers the number of reusable items in landfills, and cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
Bed Build Day
UNLV Athletics hosted the third Rebels Give Back campaign in April, a week-long community service initiative involving staff and student-athletes from all sports. From reading to young kids to cleaning up around campus, 10 local organizations received support.
The week of events culminated in the first-ever Bed Build Day at the Thomas & Mack parking lot with 374 volunteers from UNLV and the community working together to build nearly 100 beds for local youth who are in need of a comfortable place to sleep. The collaboration with Sleep in Heavenly Peace met the goal of setting the local chapter’s one-day build record.
