Name: Jose Jacques Hometown: Miami, Florida Major: Exercise Science Instagram: hitmanlive5
Students across UWF are likely to see Jose’s positive and bright attitude around campus. What they might not know is how heavily involved he is. Jose is a member of the Beta Beta Phi chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, the media chair for Collegiate 100, the Vice President of the Haitian Student Organization, and is going to be a facilitator for the Leadership Gauntlet this upcoming spring semester. However, Jose’s biggest focus right now is March of Dimes, as he serves as the president for the UWF chapter this year.
March of Dimes is here on campus to help raise awareness for premature babies. Jose explained that one out of ten babies are born prematurely and out of those one out of ten babies, prematurity is the number one cause of birth defects. The March of Dimes chapter at UWF is helping raise funds for researchers to help those premature babies in need.
The March of Dimes UWF chapter was started up by Kenetria Smalls.
“Kenetria’s son was a premature baby, so she held a high passion for this organization. After they started it up, the torch was handed off to me, and the rest is history,” Jose explained.
Before Kenetria handed off the presidency to Jose, he admits he didn’t know much about premature babies or the cause. Without his advisor, he wouldn’t have the passion he has today.
“Once my advisor informed me, I got so passionate about it. So I took the chance and said ‘why not?’ That’s when I accepted the presidency.” Jose said.
Jose says he is inspired by his own goal of success, but his biggest inspiration is his brother, Frank.
“He was basically like my dad. When I didn’t have anything, he was there to always make sure I had everything I needed. He is the one who supports me through everything, mentally and spiritually. I know he will always be there for me,” he said.
When it comes to what he wants to see March of Dimes accomplish during his presidency, his biggest goal is to have it be more well-known on campus. Additionally, he wants to have other students take it more seriously to help grow awareness.
Jose’s favorite part of working with the March of Dimes organization is the interaction, informing people about the cause and having them join the March of Dimes team.
“I absolutely love attracting new people to the organization because I feel like not many people know about it. It’s amazing that once they hear about the program they get more interested on how they can take further actions to help,” he explained.
It’s easy to get involved with March of Dimes. They have opportunities to volunteer, or you can even join their club for a fee of $15 that would cover membership for the entire year.
In September, March of Dimes held a baby drive located in front of the Commons. During the drive, they collected baby supplies such as diapers, wipes, bottles. This will help them for their big fundraising event happening in March.
For those who missed the events in September, Jose wants students to know that there are more awareness events to look out for. In October they are having their “Baby Carry” fundraiser. During that event, the March of Dimes team will be having different promotional outreaches across campus to spread the word about the cause. They are going to be holding a poster contest for students to participate in. The contest is a way for students to show creativity to spread awareness about pre-mature births. The team with the winning poster will receive five free tickets to their next big event, The Purple Tie Fair, happening November 18 in the Conference Center. The Purple Tie Fair is an event full of games, food, and the chance to hear more about March of Dimes.
If you want more information on March of Dimes, be sure to follow them on their social media.
Instagram: UWFMODCC Facebook: UWF MarchofDimes