When the name Roberto Clemente is brought up, baseball fans tend to think “world series champion”, “golden glove winner.” or “national league MVP.”
But when a community hears the exact same name, the first thing that comes to mind is Clemente’s dedication to charity.
The Puerto Rican baseball player grew up in a seven-sibling household, defined by limited supplies and field labor.
Once making it to the big leagues, Clemente’s personality was on full display, as he became an active part for Latin American & Caribbean charity. Heartbreakingly, Clemente passed away in a plane crash while on his way to deliver aid for the victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
Clemente’s legacy isn’t only enshrined by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, yet, is also vicariously represented through the 915s own want to give back.
“We consider ourselves a community-based school of pharmacy.” said Jose O. Rivera, the dean of UTEP’s school of pharmacy. “Some other colleges of pharmacy are more based in the academic part of what we do, but we extend to the community.”
This September, the UTEP school of Pharmacy asked El Paso to step up to the plate and make a difference, by hosting the Roberto Clemente food drive for the third year in a row.
Rios fully understands that to greatly affect a student’s life, it takes more than offering a chance to learn.
“I know that there are a significant number of students that could use a little help here and there. We’re not an affluent community.” said the doctor. So, we consider that some of our students don’t have a lot of resources, I was a student at one point and remember eating ramen noodles.”
To those with an outside view, it’s distinctive of how an El Paso led food drive is headlined by a Puerto Rican Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball player. Yes, Clemente was a strong representation of what community service is, but other than that, the similarities should stop there.
That is until discovering that the dean hails from the same territory as Clemente.
“I saw him play in Puerto Rico when I was a kid.” Said Rios. “There was a game between Los Cangrejeros de Santurce y Los Senadores de San Juan. That was a brief exposure, but (then) I saw him play in the big leagues, the world series, but at the same time, he wanted to give back to the community.”
Clemente’s death put into perspective the value in which the former baseball player turned manager put in community service.
“The plane was overloaded, and the plane crashed, and he (Clemente) disappeared in front of San Juan taking off from the airport,” said Clemente. “But it was for the purpose of helping others, that was very meaningful.”
Rios was greatly affected by the legacy left by Clemente, looking up to the athlete as a testament of what truly matters in life.
“Roberto Clemente stood up as one of the greatest baseball players ever. At the same time, he had a lot of dignity and a lot of caring for others.” said Rios. “As a school we want to continue that attitude.”
While the food drive might’ve just ended, the passion to help others is a trait in which no one can stop.
