University Star

Students will unite again in the annual effort to better the San Marcos community.

Bobcat Build will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Kelly Stone, student volunteer coordinator, said she anticipates this year’s event will be the biggest Bobcat Build. She expects between 3,500 and 4,000 students to volunteer at about 175 jobsites across the city.

Stone said discrepancy between students and jobsites is a constant worry.

“If we have too many students, we can find the work,” said Stone. “We’ll even canvass the city, knock on people’s doors and hand them jobsite request forms if we have to.”

Stone said not only will Bobcat Build be larger, it will be greener.

The event will contribute to Texas State’s scores in Recyclemania, a recycling competition among universities nationwide, said Stone. Students will get three trash bags — one for brush, one for recyclables and one for waste, she said.

Stone said Green Guy Recycling would collect community member’s scrap metal and tires. Stone plans to ask Bobcat Blend to compost organic waste accumulated during Bobcat Build.

“Basically the focus has been ‘How can we make this greener?’” Stone said.

Bobcat Build will partner with the Keep San Marcos Beautiful project for the first time.

Keep San Marcos Beautiful is an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful, and aims to provide volunteer opportunities for individuals wishing to keep the city in top shape, said Heather Powdrill, coordinator for San Marcos.

“This year, with it being a new program, I decided it’d be a good idea to join with Bobcat Build, which is the biggest community cleanup,” said Powdrill, who started the program in June.

Keep San Marcos Beautiful will donate $1,000 to Bobcat Build and donate cleanup supplies, Powdrill said.

Stone said this year’s speakers would be Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX25), State Rep. Patrick Rose (D-45), Mayor Susan Narvaiz and University President Denise Trauth.

Rhonda Martinez, interdisciplinary studies senior, participated in Bobcat Build last year with her co-ed honor fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. She plans on participating again this year.

“I grew up in San Marcos,” said Martinez. “It’s cool for me because I know some of these people we’re helping in the community. I like the residents to know we’re here to help.”

Stone said the most requested jobs have been tree trimming, window washing and paint jobs.

She said the best kind of job a volunteer can be assigned is one with a story behind it.

“Two years ago we found some students still working at 6:30 at night,” said Stone. “We had to pull over and ask why they were still working so hard.”

The students were originally sent to paint an elderly woman’s home, but when they arrived they noticed her backyard was severely cluttered. The students offered to haul away some of the unneeded belongings, Stone said.

 “Sometimes students begin to live in the university bubble, and this gets them out there,” Stone said. “The university masks a lot of poverty in this town, and it gets a lot more real for the students when they see it and when they’re helping.”