Thinking about volunteering? Here's some of the places A&M-Corpus Christi visited Tuesday

On Tuesday, faculty and staff from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi left their island offices to make a difference in the community, beautifying parks, natural areas and veteran gravesites, preparing supplies for charities to distribute, caring for animals and helping local non-profits with maintenance and decorating for the holidays.

More than 300 faculty and staff participated in the university's tenth annual Giving Tuesday initiative, flooding the community with volunteers. The volunteers got a taste of needs in the Coastal Bend and learned about all the places they and others in the community who are hoping to make a difference can pitch in to help.

Volunteers spent time on health and education initiatives with the American Red Cross, Garcia Center for Arts and Education, Communities in Schools, Rise School of Corpus Christi, the Boys and Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House Charities and Women's and Health Services.

Giving back to the environment, they stopped by the South Texas Botanical Gardens, Grow Local South Texas, Mustang Island State Park, Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve and Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries.

Additionally, volunteers assisted the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

Teams also pitched in with CASA of the Coastal Bend, Catholic Charities of the Coastal Bend, the Gulf Coast Humane Society, Kids Against Hunger, The Purple Door, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services' state supported living center and the Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth.

Many of these community organizations rely on the support of the community through volunteers and charity donations. Outside of Giving Tuesday, members of the community can reach out to the organizations to learn more about how they can help.

Glenoak Therapeutic Riding Center in Flour Bluff offers equine-assisted therapy to children and adults with physical or mental disabilities. This includes individuals with amputation, arthritis, attention deficit disorders, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, developmental delays, emotional disorders, hearing or vision impairment, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, paralysis, scoliosis, spina bifida, stokes and traumatic brain injuries.

"We teach them to ride," founder Charlene Thomas said. "The movement of the horse gives them a simulation of a human gait, so we have a lot (of students) who come in wheelchairs."

Currently, about 90 students come to ride at Glenoak each week, bonding with the center's 23 horses. The center has three classes each weekday evening at 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, classes are 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

It takes at least six volunteers per day to help with the classes.

"We always need more," Thomas said.

Volunteers need to be at least 14-years-old. Those interested in volunteering can contact Thomas at 361-537-3495.

"We need leaders and side-walkers," Thomas said. "They don't have to have any horse experience whatsoever, we teach them everything they need to know."

Lisa Felkins is a regular volunteer at the center whose found that just volunteering with the animals has helped her build confidence and healing in her own life.

"It's just amazing to see what it does in (the students) life, as well as my own," Felkins said.

Volunteer Micaela Gonzalez, who has been volunteering at the center for about 13 years since she was 12, agreed. Spending time with horses helps build confidence, she said.

"In just one ride you can see the difference," Gonzalez said.

Sometimes the equine-assisted therapy, where participants spend time on horseback and spend time with horses, is covered by health insurance, but often it isn't.

The Equine Sharing Program raises donations to provide scholarships for participants.

The horses at Glenoak are retired show horses who can't compete anymore, though some horses who come through the center are rehabilitated.

The A&M-Corpus Christi volunteers Tuesday morning were helping groom and prepare the horses for the center's annual Christmas horse show.

The university volunteers agreed that Glenoak Therapeutic Riding Center was one of the more sought-after locations volunteers visited today.

Director of graduate admissions and recruitment Maggie Cano said she was excited to make it out the center because she knows how much one center student, the daughter of a friend, enjoys the center.

"I'm excited to see what she sees," Cano said. "I'm brushing (the horses) and learning how to lead them and how to put their equipment on and figuring out their personalities."

Rachel Bennett, who works with the university library's electronic resources, has been participating in Giving Tuesday with the university for the past four years.

"I think it's really fulfilling to be able to come together as a university and it being so supported for us to all miss (half the day)," Bennett said.

Tuesday afternoon at the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery, cemetery manager Frank Newell welcomed 18 A&M-Corpus Christi volunteers.

"As a veteran, this is definitely one of the sites that I look forward to participating in and coming out to," volunteer and university mental health counselor Kevin Gossett said.

The volunteers washed headstones, scrubbing away messes made by perching birds.

"It's a necessary service that I depend on volunteers to come out and do that," Newell said.

Groups from A&M-Corpus Christi usually come out several times a year, Newell said.

Individuals can sign up to volunteer, but often the cemetery welcomes group volunteers, including churches, schools and veterans organizations.

To volunteer at the veterans cemetery, reach out to the cemetery office at 361-248-4830.

This is the second year Bianca Enrriquez, who works in the university's office of admissions, has come out to the cemetery on Giving Tuesday for two years now.

"I always want to help out wherever we can with active military and veterans and thank them for everything that they've done," Enrriquez said.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Coastal Bend community organizations rely on volunteers