More than 400 students and faculty brought their hammers and paint rollers to renovate the Primavera Foundation building Saturday for the second annual Cats in the Community Day.
“”We are giving the location a major facelift,”” said Holly Altman, director of the program. “”We are re-doing the interior and exterior, painting all the railings, knocking down walls; it took months of planning to come down to one day. Some students even came in the day before to get everything prepped.””
The Primavera Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides meals, temporary housing, mailing addresses and clothing for the homeless.
Students worked in three shifts starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., rotating at several workstations throughout the day.
Students also had a hand in deciding what the final project would look like.
Jackson Boelts, an art professor, had some of his graphic design students create the Primavera Foundation’s new look.
“”We had five teams of five people go through Primavera and come up with ideas. They all pitched their ideas to the foundation and one was selected,”” Boelts said.
Alex Parisi, an art senior, was selected by the foundation and said they decided to go with a nest motif.
“”A nest is a place for shelter, which is what this place is for some people,”” Parisi said.
Parisi also mentioned they were going to put up pictures of birds as well as black and white photos to help illustrate the entire idea.
Deborah Dale, chief development officer of the Primavera Foundation, said the planning for Cats in the Community Day has been going on for more than nine months.
“”It’s mind-boggling in a good way,”” Dale said. “”It’s a point of pride for the students who are doing this. I hope it’s a valuable sense of giving back and involvement. They are a huge value to us and whom we serve.””
The Navy and Marine Corps ROTC programs were present at the day as well.
“”We had 30 people here yesterday and will have 60 more today,”” said Brianna Carter, a senior in the Marine Corps ROTC program. “”We want to show Tucson we care, we are hard workers and Tucson means something to us.””
Altman said she was proud of the turnout.
“”This is a UA signature event,”” Altman said. “”Faculty, staff and students came together to help a non-profit organization that wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. We want to encourage people to make a difference.””
Last year the UA assisted the Tucson Community Food Bank on the Day of Caring.
