Community Service

In an effort to help improve the health of young people in the Central Valley, the University of California, Merced, will host a conference next month to connect innovative researchers with community members working to improve the lives of area youth.

“Building Healthy Youth in Merced County: Community Engagement and Scholarship” will showcase successful research and evidence-based programs that can promote positive youth development in Merced County.

Uriel Bravo is about to become a freshman at Merced High School, but he's already thinking about college — thanks partly to the encouragement of a UC Merced program.

"I really want to go to college," he said. "I know if I don't go, I won't find a good-paying job."

Mix up a few buckets of goo, and what do you have?

A messy and fun science lesson for local schoolchildren — courtesy of UC Merced students who help the community through an innovative engineering service learning program.

UC Merced may still be a young campus, but that doesn't prevent its students from striving for audacious goals. One enterprising group of students aspires to change the face of how diabetes is managed in the Merced area.

During a typical day at the Mercy Medical Center Emergency Department (ED), nurses, doctors and support staff swiftly move through the halls of the 27-room facility. Patients register and are assessed and treated for everything from fractures and lacerations to possible cardiac arrest or stroke.

But another group of individuals are working hard behind the scenes.

UC Merced employees have established themselves here in every way during the last several years, including giving their time and expertise to community organizations. Several employees serve prominently in some of Merced's most vital service groups.

A group of female students at UC Merced are determined to show that their college home is more cosmopolitan than many others might think. And they're doing it through fashion, with a plan to benefit neighbors in need.