Chevron gifts $150,000 to Community Health Mobile Unit

A new gift from Chevron will help fuel the next generation of innovators in the Central Valley.

Chevron announced a $450,000 donation to Fresno State on Jan. 24 in support of a number of key initiatives in several areas across campus to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs, as well as healthcare.

190124event007a — Chevron Representative, Marc Guzman, presents a check to Fresno State President Joseph Castro. Photo Credit: Cary Edmondson

dsc_0078ab — Dean Jody Hironaka-Juteau talks about the impact of the $150,000 gift.

“It is very exciting to see how our contribution will be implemented and will make a direct impact not only in the classrooms, but also in the community,” said Marc Guzman, a reservoir supervisor with Chevron who represented the company at the gift announcement on campus at the Smittcamp Alumni House.

The College of Health and Human Services was among the six recipients. The gift of $150,000 will benefit the Community Mobile Health Unit, which has served nearly 4,600 community members in the past four years.

Since its wheels first rolled out in fall 2015, the mobile unit has evolved to include collaborative learning opportunities for students throughout Fresno State, including those in the College of Arts and Humanities, whose Spanish majors provide translation services, and the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, whose dietetics students provide nutritional information.

In addition to a wide range of nursing students (which includes bachelors, masters, and doctoral level students), students majoring in athletic training, public health, recreation administration, communicative sciences and deaf studies, and physical therapy, have also worked with the mobile unit at one time or another.

A total of 551 students from Fresno State have completed over 200,000 service-learning hours through the mobile unit, which makes about 20-25 visits per semester, to rural areas throughout the Central Valley region.

“Through Chevron’s generous gift of $150,000, we’ll be able to underwrite 20 mobile health unit visits per year, specifically in west Fresno and rural communities of Fresno County – areas where access to healthcare is most urgent,” said Dr. Jody Hironaka-Juteau, dean of the College of Health and Human Services.

Others campus programs benefiting from the gift include: the Lyles College of Engineering, Craig School of Business, Office of Community and Economic Development and the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

“Thousands of students’ lives have been transformed by Chevron’s generosity, which allows us to educate a new generation of leaders that is prepared to boldly address regional and national challenges,” said Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro. “With strong community partners like Chevron, we will continue to graduate innovative scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers and researchers who help to elevate the Central Valley and beyond.”