Evely Gómez-Jarquín, a senior majoring in Latin American Studies, was awarded the 2020 University Volunteer of the Year Award. Gómez-Jarquín has been a dedicated volunteer throughout her time at Fresno State, completing over 240 hours of service over the past year.

Gómez-Jarquín volunteers for several community-based organizations that are focused on serving minority and immigrant populations. As an interpreter for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Gómez-Jarquín assists unaccompanied minors in need of interpretation assistance for legal intake or meeting with their attorneys. At the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative, she volunteers as a community organizer, helping with DACA and naturalization workshops. In this role she fills out applications for work permits and reviews documents brought by the applicants as evidence of their eligibility.

Gómez-Jarquín also serves on the Binational Center’s “Guelaguetza” event planning committee. This is a yearly event that celebrates culture of the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca. Such events provide the space to celebrate indigenous traditions in the Central Valley, which benefits the indigenous communities as well as the community at-large.

In addition to these efforts Gómez-Jarquín also serves as the Chicano and Latin American Studies Department representative in the College of Social Sciences’ Student Leadership Council, a volunteer position. She has also been on the Dean’s List from Spring 2017-19 and was on the President’s List in fall 2019.

In their letter nominating Gómez-Jarquín, Maria-Aparecida Lopes and Annabella España-Nájera said, “Community Service is about building bridges, bringing about change, and solving social problems. Gómez-Jarquín has shown a commitment to these goals and a willingness to invest her time in realizing them. Her background and volunteer service ensure that the voice of the LatinX community is a part of addressing the needs of the Central Valley.”

The University Volunteer of the Year award is administered by the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning.

For more information, please contact Taylan Parker, Richter Center special projects coordinator, at 559.278.7079.

(Story by  Taylan Parker)