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Monday, July 10, 2000

Student pushes peers toward her passion: volunteerism
Roxanne Jasso follows in mother's footsteps as she inspires classmates
By Matt Stiles
Caller-Times

David Adame/Caller-Times

Roxanne Jasso, 14, volunteers her time to help residents of the Wooldridge Place Nurseing Center. 'I think that everyone just needs a taste,' she says of volunteering.

Roxanne Jasso sees value in working for free.
   So much, in fact, that the 14-year-old West Oso High School student wants to convince her peers to do the same.
   "I think that everyone just needs a taste and they will keep on doing it," said Jasso, who volunteers at local nursing homes and for Habitat for Humanity when she's not in school.
   She proved her point in February, she said, when Jasso convinced a teacher and several classmates to entertain residents at Wooldridge Place Nursing Center as part of a class project.
   "A lot of the kids from my school became interested, so it was nice," she said. "Even the guys realized they liked it."
   Roxanne became interested in volunteering two years ago, after a drive-by shooting prompted residents of her apartment complex to build a community center.
   With the help of her mother, Gracie Jasso, Roxanne helped raise money, tutored younger students and organized a Bible study.
   "Without her help, I don't know what I would have done," said Gracie Jasso, a Jefferson Award recipient in 1998 for her work with the center.
   "I didn't know that she liked it so much."
   After the center was completed, the Jasso family moved into a house funded by Habitat for Humanity. To pay for it, Habitat required that the family complete 600 hours building other homes.
   But when their required time was completed, Roxanne and her mother continued to volunteer for the organization.
   "We kept on going," said Roxanne Jasso. Too young for hard labor, Roxanne served lunches to workers.
   "We knew the way we felt when we got our house and we wanted other people to feel the same way we did."
   Now, two years older, Roxanne Jasso spends much of her time at Wooldridge Place Nursing Center, helping organize activities and entertaining residents.
   "They are fun to be around, and knowing that you can bring them joy - it's nice to know you're needed," she said.
   Gracie Jasso, an activities director at Wooldridge, said her daughter likes to dance with and cheer up the residents, getting them excited about activities.
   She said she sets a good example not only for her peers, but for all residents, many of whom never consider volunteering.
   "I don't think there (are) enough people who volunteer their time," Garcie Jasso said. "There just aren't enough volunteers. If there were, I think this town would be a better place."
   Roxanne also is a good student, said Herminio Ibañez, director of the Upward Bound program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
   He chose Roxanne for the summer component of the program, which gives low-income and potential first-generation college students a head start on college during six weeks of intense summer curriculum at the college.
   He said she was chosen from more than 30 students from West Oso High School because of her volunteer work, enthusiasm and career goals.
   "It's because of the recommendations from her teachers and it's because of the content of her character that we picked her," Ibañez said.
   "They all mentioned the same things: She's driven and she works hard."
   For her efforts, Roxanne has been recognized as part of the 10th annual Caller-Times/Channel 6 Jefferson Volunteer Awards, which celebrate community volunteerism.
   Nominations are accepted throughout the year, and a community panel each month selects four honorees to be featured in future articles and on Channel 6 News.
   In April 2001, 10 Jefferson Award winners - selected from among the volunteers featured throughout the year - will receive bronze medallions minted by the Franklin Mint for their efforts to enrich their communities and the lives of their neighbors.



Staff writer Matt Stiles can be reached at 886-3778 or by e-mail at stilesm@caller.com

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