40 Hours for the Forty Acres 2020

Who We Are

The Texas Blazers, founded in 1994, is an honor society and service‐spirit‐leadership organization devoted to serve The University of Texas at Austin. Members are chosen from the UT Austin Student Body for their leadership, commitment to service, and academic achievements. Texas Blazers are known for their involvement with the community, serving as official hosts for the university and as mentors at Eastside Memorial High School. The organization is led by an elected Chairman and eleven other executive board members, and recruits new members every academic semester. Texas Blazers also serve on the Texas Roundtable.

What We're Fundraising For

The Texas Blazers Excellence Fund is an endowment that aims to combat food insecurity and provide resources to students on the Forty Acres. We developed a partnership with the UT Outpost, an initiative started by the Office of the Dean of Students, because we want to extend our impact and help students survive and thrive during their time on the Forty Acres. Food insecurity, hunger, and a lack of resources are rising issues that affect our UT Austin community; 25% of UT students have experienced food insecurity within the last 30 days. In the past year, the UT Outpost has provided over 8,522 meals to students dealing with food insecurity. The Texas Blazers Excellence Fund will support the UT Outpost so that together, we can ensure that students have access to the resources they need to succeed beyond the classroom.

Your Impact

Over the past 25 years, the Texas Blazers have had a history of helping students get to UT Austin through our involvement in mentoring East Austin high school students. Our founders knew how important it was for there to be a group of men who support those who don't have as many resources available, which is why we developed such a robust relationship with Eastside Memorial High School. As the Texas Blazers grew and found its place on the Forty Acres, we established an endowment, the Texas Blazers Endowed Scholarship, to help provide scholarships for Eastside Memorial High School mitigate some of the financial barriers of attending UT. With a goal in mind of raising $100,000 and a group of men determined to make a difference during their time as UT students, the Texas Blazers Endowed Scholarship reached its goal last year! Now that we have helped students get to UT, we want to extend our impact and help them thrive during their time on the Forty Acres. The Texas Blazers Excellence Fund is our attempt at creating lasting, sustainable change on the Forty Acres and in the lives of UT students. Every gift will directly support the UT Outpost through bolstering the food pantry, providing housing stipends for students, providing business attire for students when interviewing, and distributing emergency funds for students who face unexpected obstacles. Furthermore, the gift isn't a one time solution; the purpose of the endowment is to continue to generate returns so that we can support the UT Outpost indefinitely into the future. The Excellence Fund, coupled with the Texas Blazers Endowed Scholarship, represents our organization's dedication to our community and will further our vision of helping students remove financial barriers to reach their fullest potential.