Volunteers beautify Fresno State campus in celebration of Earth Day

Regina Rivera (left) and Ally Barriga (right) are both student campus representatives for PINK Fresno State, and hosted a volunteer campus clean up event on April 16.

By Morgan McComb, Contributor

PINK Fresno State is an affiliate of Victoria Secret’s sister brand, PINK, and it hires student brand ambassadors to host on-campus events that give back to the Fresno State community.

In anticipation of Earth Day, PINK Fresno State hosted an “Earth Month Campus Clean Up” event on Sunday, April 16, that offered community service hours to clean the campus.

The event was open to students and community members. About 50 volunteers attended, and they were divided into groups to clean up different parts of campus. Each group was given trash bags and gloves.

Ally Barriga, a student and a campus representative for PINK Fresno State, told The Collegian what it means to be an extension of the brand and how it affects campus.

“PINK is more than just beauty and perfumes, they stand a lot for why we have these events: to empower others and make a difference in our community,” Barriga said.

Regina Rivera, another campus representative for PINK Fresno State, has been a brand ambassador for one and a half years.

“Our team has been around for roughly 8 years or more. I’m not sure if students reached out to PINK or PINK reached out to us, but we essentially try to keep their brand relevant to Fresno State campus. Students can apply to be a campus rep, which is also a paid position, and you get to go on events like these. Students can also get to work with brand management, product marketing and content creation, working with PINK directly,” Rivera said.

Valerie Jimenez, a sophomore, participated in the event and told The Collegian she chose to volunteer.

Jimenez said she wants to get more involved with Fresno State events to help give back to Fresno State and improve her reputation as an Associated Students Inc elected official.

“I want to contribute to Fresno State, because I think by cleaning the campus is a great start to give back to the campus. It feels really amazing to commit to something where you can be involved, meet new people and help the community. I really enjoyed it and I recommend others to join as well,” Jimenez said.

During the event, PINK got people to come out and participate by giving out a few of its products and other incentives that were sponsored by local businesses, including Red Bull, Cookiezilla, Julia Vogue and Mochinut.

Volunteers received and won some of these items as giveaway prizes for participating.

“We did this so we can get more people to come out,” Rivera said.

Mary Davis, a sophomore, said it was her first experience attending a PINK sponsored event, which is what drew her into participating.

“I like how you give back and you get back. You get a little free stuff just by coming out and helping the community which I think is really cool,” Davis said.

By the end of the event, students brought bags full of garbage that were submitted to the campus representatives and then the giveaway took place for those who signed up.

After the event, Jimenez expressed her satisfaction with attending and said she would consider becoming a PINK Fresno State representative.

“I feel like an amazing person just being able to give back to the community. I would do this again, and I definitely recommend others to come do it as well. Talking to the girls, they were really nice and inspired me to be part of their team,” Jimenez said.

Barriga also states how setting up this event and activity made her feel as a representative.

“It feels so good just having other students that are like me get up and help around our school. What we do at PINK Fresno State means a lot to me, and I’m so happy that I joined a group where we can give back to the students and help the community,” Barriga said.