Applications are NOW OPEN for the 2013-2014 planning committee!  Any current UT student is eligible to apply – we’re looking for motivated, service-minded, and dedicated students who want to be part of a transformational leadership experience.  The Project committee is responsible for the planning and execution of each Project event, and Project 2014 is our 15th anniversary!  We’re hoping to make it bigger and better than ever.  Committee members get to spend a large amount of time in the Project neighborhood, and will make connections with residents, set up worksites for event day, train and lead our event staff, and coordinate all aspects of the event.

Committee members must attend a weekly meeting and complete weekly tasks during both the fall and spring semesters, with spring being a much higher time commitment. Members gain a high level of leadership experience, as well as experience interacting with vendors, neighborhood residents, service providers, and UT administrators.

Full job descriptions are listed on the application – APPLY NOW!

Join us for Project 2013′s follow-up workday on Saturday 3/23!  Come back to Dove Springs, or lend a hand for the first time if you missed out on UT’s Largest Day of Service!

Register Here

See you on 3/23!

Longhorn Steakhouse, a national chain of restaurants, has only been in the Austin area for a year. But Director of Operations Gus Barbosa and his team have enthusiastically embraced the Austin community. With a core value of community giving as an impetus, Barbosa and about 40 employees from the five area restaurants are volunteering at The Project on Feb. 23. Not only will they be working alongside the 2,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community volunteers during UT’s biggest community service event, they will be feeding all 2,000 volunteers hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and drinks.

“Longhorn has been around since 1981,” said Barbosa. “And we’re really big about connecting with the local community and doing special events in the local community.” These include providing breakfast or lunch for fundraising events, though The Project includes the largest number of people Austin Longhorn team has fed at a nonprofit event yet. “We usually handle 200 or 300 people,” he said, adding that his team is stoked about feeding 2,000.

Yvonne Loya, director of the Volunteer and Service Learning Center which sponsors The Project every year said Longhorn’s contribution is phenomenal. “As the volunteer capacity for The Project increases each year, finding meaningful ways to demonstrate our appreciation to outstanding volunteers is challenging,” explained Loya. “Partnering with members of the private sector who value the efforts of UT students, faculty and staff members as much as we do, allows us to focus our resources on Project expenses without compromising the overall volunteer experience.”

“Thanks to the generous gift being provided by the Longhorn Steakhouse volunteers can look forward to not only giving their all during Project, but also sinking their teeth into a delicious meal after their work is finished,” added Loya.

Barbosa is excited about working alongside students and being involved in the university community. “We would love to be involved with smaller groups at the university–student organizations, fraternities, sororities.”

Longhorn  Steakhouse is a supporter of many worthwhile nonprofits in the 35 states where the restaurants are located, including a recent donation of $15,000 to Round Rock Parks and Recreation.

Project Worldwide is a partnership between the Texas Exes and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement designed to unite alumni worldwide in community service during the month of February. See http://www.texasexes.org/chapters/texas-exes-care.aspx for more information.

Calling all volunteers…registration is now open for Project 2013!  Thank you for your interest in serving your community, and we can’t wait to see you on February 23rd!

General volunteers and Texas Exes, REGISTER HERE

Registration FAQ’s:

Q:  If I’m registering with a  group, can one representative register the whole group?
A:  Unfortunately, no – for liability purposes, we need each volunteer to register individually to ensure that we have the correct information for each  volunteer and that everyone has signed a liability waiver.  As long as everyone chooses the same site, you’ll be able to work together!

Volunteer Registration for Project 2013 will open on Monday, January 21.  Currently, we have space for 1875 volunteers over 23 worksites throughout the Dove Springs community.  We can’t wait to see you February 23rd!

More event info and specifics can be found on our Event Info page.  Questions?  Email us at theproject.ut@gmail.com

What is The Project, anyway?  Where did it begin?  We’re visual learners, and we know many of you are, too.  Hopefully this handy infographic will help give you a sense of what we’re all about, where we came from, and where we’re going from here.

View the video, read the transcript.

For the first time ever, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) invited the Texas Exes to join University of Texas students for The Project. The Project is the university’s premier annual community service event that traditionally takes place in Austin on the last Saturday in February. By teaming up, the DDCE and the Texas Exes extended community service throughout the month of February around the globe through an initiative called Texas Exes Care About The Project. Fifty-three chapters hosted “Care” activities in their own communities.

From Lubbock to London, alumni of all ages helped prove that What Starts Here Changes the World in a variety of ways—they helped build houses, cleaned up parks and waterways, donated blood, volunteered at homeless shelters, and facilitated food and clothing drives. And the best part is that many of the chapters want to continue community service work throughout the year.

We are proud of the dedication to service and community engagement demonstrated by our alumni and students and hope that you are inspired by this video of Longhorns in action.