UA employees pose with Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat during Cats in the Community Day at the Primavera Foundation.
Students paint railings during Cats in the Community Day.
Professor Jackson Boelts (far right in back row) and students in his senior-level design class pose in front of the Primavera Foundation.
On a sunny morning in downtown Tucson, dozens of members of The University of Arizona community paint walls, build benches, trim trees and organize supplies at the Primavera Foundation, an organization that provides services to homeless men, women and families, as part of Cats in the Community Day.
As students, faculty and staff work side by side, a mural takes shape, picnic tables and benches are built and the Blue Door Store, Primavera's free clothing store, is reorganized.
Working in shifts from morning until evening on Saturday, more than 400 people participated in the transformation. All of the materials they used were donated by business or individuals, or purchased with money donated to the project.
"We've gotten well over $40,000 in donations," says Holly Altman, outreach coordinator in the Office of Community Relations at the UA. "People have really come out of the woodwork to help out."
Formerly called the Day of Caring, this is the fourth year that the UA has spearheaded a major community service project. In years past, members of the University community have donated their time to the Community Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity.
"We look for an organization that has a mission that people at the UA can support," says Altman.
The Primavera Foundation, 702 S. Sixth Ave., strives to promote "economic and social justice to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income and safe affordable housing," according to its mission.
In recruiting members of the UA community to donate their time, Altman says she hopes the annual event makes a difference not only for the people who use Primavera's services, but for the volunteers as well.
Three goals of the event are to uplift the environment, help an organization accomplish work it couldn't have otherwise and raise awareness to the UA community, Altman says.
For the second year in a row, art professor Jackson Boelts' senior-level graphic design class pitched in to help meet those goals. Boelts' students worked in teams to come up with design proposals for the Cats in the Community project. After presenting their designs to Altman and Primavera, one group's proposal was selected.
The theme of this year's project is a nest, says Alex Parisi, a student in Boelts' class who is helping to manage the project. He says the team chose the nest theme because Primavera is like a nest for many of the people that use its services – a safe place where people can get the things they need until they are ready to move on.
"Leaving a nest is a step toward independence," Parisi says about the ways in which the theme of the wall paintings relates to the goals of Primavera.
In addition to designing and implementing their own project, Boelts says that participating in this event gives students the opportunity to be active in Tucson.
"They get to give back to the community," Boelts says. "It's without a doubt good for the students."
In addition to Boelts and his students, members of the Staff Advisory Council, employees from the Financial Services Office and students from the Navy ROTC program, among others, helped make the day a success.
At 9:30 a.m., only an hour and a half into the daylong event, fresh coats of paint were already beginning to transform the buildings.
Deborah Dale, chief development officer for the Primavera Foundation, looked around at all the work being done.
"This is just amazing," she said, smiling. "Just amazing."