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PrideStaff North Dallas Helps Serve!

PrideStaff North Dallas was proud to be a part of an extremely important and worthy cause by supporting Eye on the Rainforest.  We did this by financially supporting our summer intern, Gabrielle Jurik, who attends Pepperdine University in California. Eye on the Rainforest’s mission is: “Our mission is to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”.  She interned with us for the last two summers. In the blog below, Gabrielle takes us along with her on her journey and tells us about her life changing experience.

“Going to Puerto Rico this spring break for a service project was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I couldn’t have done it without PrideStaff North Dallas’ support. When I decided that I wanted to use my last spring break as a senior to make a difference and sign up for Project Serve, I honestly had no idea that it would change my life. One challenge that was immediate was that my team and I had to fundraise for the trip. I was chosen for this trip after a lengthy interview process and then asked to be a leader for my team. We worked hard to sell t-shirts and cookies. When that wasn’t enough, we reached out to family, friends, and corporate sponsorships for donations. I had mentioned my trip to the North Dallas office, and they were very excited to take part in such a worthy mission, of supporting an organization that makes a difference in the world by working toward the ecological sustainability of our planet.  

So just a few weeks ago, my team of nine and I set off to Puerto Rico after many meetings to prepare us for the trip. We weren’t one hundred percent sure what exactly we would be doing day by day, but we knew we would be helping with rainforest sustainability and conservation and working alongside the community with whatever help they might need. They truly do some of the most amazing work to help preserve the Earth.

 

My team – I am in the jean jacket and pink shirt below.

 

When we landed, everyone was welcoming and we were ready to get started… but a little nervous. We hopped into a van and started the trip up winding roads to the mountains of the rainforest in Las Casas de la Selva, Puerto Rico. We were super excited to start our adventure!

The next day we woke up early and packed our lunches. The first of our tasks included cleaning out their theater area, which had not been used since hurricane Maria hit in 2017. All around the theater we created a drainage system to help the rain water run down and not flood the area for future rain. We even had a little play time after our hard work, they gave us Salsa dance lessons (in my humble opinion I do feel like an expert).  

 

Most of the week we did a lot of clearing of the land that had overgrowth since the hurricane. There were many parts of the land that needed trails cleared and areas cleaned out so the host could have a garden. They work hard to live off the land and recycle as much as possible. One of the key objectives of Eye on the Rainforest is to coexist in the rainforest biome.

Throughout the trip, we realized that a lot of the work we did was hurricane relief. Eye on the Rainforest usually has a good number of groups come help throughout the year and learn about sustainability, but we were one of the first groups to come since the hurricane.  

By mid-week we were doing more heavy lifting, carrying cinder blocks down to the house where they would host more guests the next week. The house was elevated off the ground, so we had to create a staircase made of cinder blocks. We even added stones and clay to the last step to add a little creative touch and leave our mark. What I loved the most, was that the host would give us a job and she would encourage us to get the job done in any way we wanted. We used a lot of our creativity skills, collaboration and of course my team brought a lot of diversity that made our assignments rich with ideas and great outcomes.

 

 

On our last day of work, it had rained, so we were not able to do as much clearing of the land as we wanted, but we decided to make the most of our time and made repairs to the bathroom where the doors were hanging off the hinges. Since there would be another group coming shortly after us, our host was so happy we were able to fix the bathroom up for them since it was our last day. She mentioned many times that the tasks we helped her with which took us a matter of hours, would have taken her weeks which was just too big of task for her.

Bamboo wall we repaired in the restroom

 

I could go on and on about how amazing the trip was and all that I learned! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing adventure. I learned and truly grew as a person and built lasting friendships with not only my team, but also the Puerto Rican community. They are such an inspiration and I am already working on changing some of my current habits to habits that are more beneficial for the environment! I can truly attest to the fact that going out of your comfort zone and helping others is an eye opener. I would highly recommend for everyone to get involved in something that is a little out of your comfort zone to help someone else.  

Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible… and a big THANK YOU to PrideStaff for all of your ongoing support, much love!”

 

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