CVM White Coats Volunteer at Brazos Valley Foodbank

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (CVM) White Coats, a team of veterinary student leaders who work to foster a positive culture at the CVM, spent the Saturday following their first week of classes serving their community by volunteering at the Brazos Valley Foodbank.

Working to display the Aggie core value of “Selfless Service,” about 40 White Coats and CVM staff and faculty members volunteered at the foodbank on Aug. 24 in an effort to make a difference in the Bryan/College Station community.

“The project consisted of preparing 15 raised garden beds for the upcoming fall and refurbishing four picnic tables” said Daniel Anthony, a third-year veterinary student and CVM White Coat. “This proved to be a challenge, as the weeds had taken over the landscape and many of the plants had run their course.”

The students pulled weeds from the garden beds and pathways, cleaned up debris, and sanded and painted picnic tables in the Brazos Valley Foodbank’s signature colors of blue and green.

“After many hours in the Texas heat, the CVM White Coat group gave new life to the garden, making it a sanctuary again for the volunteers and staff at the foodbank who give so much to our local community,” Anthony said.

Veterinary students are able to help others regularly by caring for animals at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, but this volunteer event provided them with a new way to serve those in the Bryan/College Station community.

“If this experience is any indication of what my colleagues are capable of achieving as a team, I am confident that the future of the veterinary profession is in good hands,” Anthony said.

The White Coats participated in this volunteer event as part of the Purdue Diversity & Inclusion Course, which the CVM Professional Programs Office offered to White Coat members this summer.

This course focuses on issues such as microaggressions, effective communication with Spanish-speaking clients, affirmative leadership, and more. The overall goal of the course is to meet the needs of a diverse society by advancing inclusion and human-centered veterinary medicine.

“As a veterinary student leader at the CVM, I wanted to learn more about diversity and inclusion in the veterinary profession in order to strengthen and serve the human-animal bond,” Anthony said.

“The Purdue Diversity and Inclusion course provided the White Coats the tools to foster a more inclusive environment at Texas A&M and gave me a new perspective for those who make up our great profession, including both our veterinary colleagues and clients,” he said. “To be effective leaders and school ambassadors, it is important to recognize what makes us similar, but more importantly, celebrate what makes us different.”

The White Coats represent and promote the CVM through recruitment, servant leadership, and networking alongside the Professional Programs Office during events such as Admissions Interviews, Orientation, White Coat Ceremony, Graduation, Alumni Events, and community outreach.


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