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Warm and Proud: Itzel Moreno-Vega teams up with Operation Warm to provide coats for students

Social Work

Alumni

Portland Magazine

College of Arts and Sciences

June 17, 2019

by Roya Ghorbani-Elizeh '11

Itzel Moreno-VegaItzel Moreno-Vega ’19’s internship through the Latino Network at César Chávez School in North Portland was initially focused on parents. A social work major, Itzel’s job was to increase parent engagement by creating accessible programs and to find ways for parents to connect and get involved. But when the weather turned cold and rainy in the fall, she also started turning her attention to the students. She couldn’t help but notice that many students went out for recess without a coat.

Itzel decided to find a solution. She discovered Operation Warm—a nonprofit that manufactures its own coats for children—and took on the extra work of filling out a grant application, her first. After a couple weeks perfecting her ask—a brand new coat for each and every student at the school—she pressed send, though not without doubts. “I didn’t think I was going to get it,” she says. “I knew it was highly competitive, and I was asking for a big donation.” A couple months later Itzel received the news—all 525 students would be receiving a brand new coat, and the organization kicked in 100 more for siblings or community members. “Not only was it a special moment for the students, but it was one of the best days of my life,” Itzel says. “It was overwhelming for me to watch the students pick out their coats.”

Originally from the St. Johns neighborhood, Itzel felt a special attachment to the school community. “I have a connection to these stories and to these families’ backgrounds,” she says. “In that moment, I realized that I attended UP for a reason, and that reason was to give back to people who are close to my heart and home.”

Itzel graduated in May 2019 and is headed to Madrid, Spain, for 10 months as a language and culture assistant through the Council on International Educational Exchange.