Students help needy with program

By Janet Enquist

Sofia Fellez-Huerta is an intern at the Community Food Bank where she assists in a couple of projects. One is a hunger study about Fresno County that will be released this holiday season.

Fellez-Huerta said the study sampled almost 1,000 clients to identify their reason for needing emergency food assistance and to identify who needs food and why.

“ I know that my work with Community Food Bank is benefiting the community members that we help serve,” she said. “Our study will raise awareness in our community about the ‘real life’ issues that many of our neighbors face and how we can pitch in and reduce hunger in the Valley.”

The American Humanics program at Fresno State gives students like Fellez-Huerta an opportunity to serve Fresno and its surrounding community.

According to the AH brochure, AH is a national organization that allows a university’s AH program, professional organizations and nonprofit agencies to recruit and place students in careers with youth and human services agencies. The nonprofit management & leadership certificate is open to students of all majors.

“ Our program is an excellent match for any student in any major that wants to develop professional skills in management in the nonprofit sector,” said Fellez-Huerta, treasurer of the American Humanics Student Association. “The skills we develop in the AH program are transferable and highly marketable in the public and private sectors too.”

Fellez-Huerta is a Fresno State alumna who returned this fall to pursue a master’s in social work and finish her nonprofit management & leadership certificate.

Fellez-Huerta is also an intern with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund where she helps coordinate and conducts college outreach meetings for Latino students at Mendota, Madera and McLane high schools.

“ She is a very dynamic person that is an asset to any team with whom she engages,” said Jose Gutierrez, program director of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

Fellez-Huerta is also the head of the AH Outreach Project where she presents the certificate program to Fresno State students and faculty.

“ Her professionalism in arranging for and delivering these presentations represents the AH program well,” said professor Matthew Jendian, campus director of the AH Program.

Fellez-Huerta is also one of 15 students from Fresno State who will attend the American Humanics Management Institute, Jan. 2-5, 2004 in Kansas City, Mo. At this event students will participate in workshops, a simulation exercise and a career and information fair, according to Jendian.

“ As an American Humanics student, [Fellez-Huerta] is able to apply her academic abilities and make valuable contributions in nonprofit settings that ultimately help to bring about healthier communities,” Jendian said.