Nov. 24, 201 5— HOUSTON, Texas
— Going green can change the world; one community at a time. The mission to
spread this message brought national recognition to the Green Ambassadors and Texas
A&M Forest Service.
Earlier this
month, Green Ambassadors from the Latino Legacy program working on the Houston East
End Greenbelt project received the 2015 Abraham Lincoln Honor Award for
Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach — one of the United States Department of
Agriculture’s highest honors.
This award
recognizes employees and partnerships that demonstrate exceptional commitment
to promoting and enhancing diversity, and effecting positive change to benefit
the entire USDA workforce.
“We
are proud to honor the Green Ambassadors and Texas A&M Forest Service for their
determination, passion, commitment and shared vision,” said Tamberly Conway,
partnerships, diversity, and inclusion specialist for USDA Forest Service. “We
extend our gratitude for their dedicated partnership service.”
Since
2007, Texas A&M Forest Service has worked with Latino Legacy, a nonprofit
group that develops outreach
and conservation education programs for Latino communities. Together they help
removebarriers tounderserved and
culturally diverse communities byprovidingaccess to natural resource educationand stewardship opportunities.
With the help of
the Project Learning Tree GreenSchool Initiative, the Green Ambassadors were
formed. Comprised of high school and college students, the Green Ambassadors incorporate
bilingual education and use mentors to connect diverse audiences to nature to become
environmentally literate.
The
group helped transform their community of over 100,000 residents in the East
End of Houston by planting and maintaining 100 fruit trees, and vegetable and
pollinator gardens.
The
group’s involvement with community education events and working relationship
with the Texas A&M Forest Service Diversity Outreach Team modeled partnership,
youth empowerment and community-based action.
“Our
hope has always been that that through this partnership we could empower youth
to give back to the community,” said John Warner, Texas A&M Forest Service district
forester and urban and community outreach coordinator. “By teaching their peers
and younger students about conservation, they’re helping prepare a new
generation to be stewards of the land.”
Youth
are not only changing their communities, but themselves. Several
members of Green Ambassadors are
currently pursuinghighereducationinnaturalresourcesand arepoised toestablish careers with natural
resource organizations.
“My
involvement with the Latino Legacy has turned into so much more than expected,”
said Andre Saenz, urban and community outreach program specialist. “This has
forged a positive pathway for me to start working toward a forestry degree — which
is something I never thought would be possible.”
Through
the power of partnership, the Green Ambassadors were able to revive their underserved
community and encourage the citizens to not to just think green, but “do”
green.
The
Texas A&M Forest Service Outreach Team consists of John Warner, Andre
Saenz, Ezequiel, Villa Tapia, Alex Schulter, Dawn Vollmer McCook and Ben
Plunkett.
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Editor’s Note: Pictured:
Members of Green Ambassadors accepting their 2015 Abraham Lincoln Honor Award
for Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach in Washington D.C.
Texas A&M
Forest Service Contact:
John Warner, District
Forester
936-273-2261, jwarner@tfs.tamu.edu
Jessica
Jackson, Communications Specialist
979-458-6619, jjackson@tfs.tamu.edu