A Big Heart: High Schooler Helps El Paso’s Community

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Belen Martinez. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Belen Martinez is a 16-year-old high school student who volunteers in her El Paso community at the UMC Foundation.The University Medical Center Foundation of El Paso provides funding, direct services, and fiscal management for a variety of programs that benefit the people of the Paso del Norte region.

As a volunteer, Belen dedicates 15 hours monthly to the UMC Foundation. She supports events, pitches initiatives and coordinates occasions during this time. But beyond her title, she finds joy in the stories she hears from members of her community.

Belen has been a pillar of her community throughout the years, demonstrating her commitment to increasing the health, safety and well-being of her community members. As she hopes to pursue cardiology in the future, she continues to find joy in working with the UMC Foundation. She found her way to UMC’s foundation through her passion for understanding the heart and its functionalities.

What inspires you to volunteer?

While growing up, I watched how simple acts of kindness transform someone’s day. My family always believed that if you can help, you should, and that shaped who I am. When I joined the UMC Foundation, I felt like I was stepping into something bigger than myself. I find joy in helping people and the feeling of giving while seeing the relief on their faces is powerful. In those moments, I realized that if I could help bring even a tiny amount of peace and comfort to families like them, I knew this was precisely what I was meant to do.

Tell us about your volunteer role with UMC Foundation.

My service with the UMC Foundation has primarily focused on fundraising and community outreach, and we’ve supported millions of families. We also make little cards and notes about our trips to the hospitals. I recently wrote a little book for them about the heart and how it works. I’m interested in cardiology, so that was something I enjoyed doing and making. We’re also creating a space where families feel less alone, and we take this opportunity to remind them that they have an entire community rallying behind them in some of their most challenging moments.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

I am a junior in high school with plans to graduate next year. Even after leaving my community, this is not where I will end. Absolutely not.

Since starting in 2018, I have immersed my entire community in the UMC Foundation. I want to continue to make an impact and help better my community. When I go to college, I want to continue a subgroup of the foundation, in another area.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

The most rewarding part of my work has been making family and community smile. There’s nothing better than knowing that you helped someone. When you give, you’re giving more than just the material itself. It helps to remind people that they are not alone and they do make an impact.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

Well, I have learned a lot. When I was little, I didn’t understand how things worked, so they just put me on the sidelines to watch. Over the years, I watched as people began to step up and help; it genuinely began to inspire me. It’s been amazing watching my transformation from a mentee to a mentor. This has been an instrumental learning path, and now I am completing tasks independently.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

I founded a club school called the Hispanic Student Union. We have many members right now. I want to begin putting other foundations together because if you don’t see the initiative making that much of an impact, then we can have other high school students allow us to make a further impact.

Why should others get involved with causes they care about?

It’s important to know that when someone is there, they do it because they care not to receive kudos. They are there to help you, and in their eyes, it is all done out of kindness and from their heart.

You must realize that, and you have to replicate the same energy that others are putting in because, at the end of the day, it’s a question of what if this happens to your family? What if no one was there for them? You have to replicate that energy.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

Volunteering is a very broad word. Where do I start? What do I do? Just picking up trash from your school premises makes a difference. My interest group would clean up trash in the driveways. As we collected trash, we would hear people honking to thank us for our service. Doing this service would make me feel so positively impacted and it would make my day.

Any advice I would give would be to start small and get bigger. Once you start getting the formula, the rest will come quickly.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

I want people to know that anyone can make an impact. I am a 16-year-old high school student, but I’m still trying to make an impact. The UMC Foundation has led me to make a significant impact in my community and in my future professional career. The work I do with UMC has more than positively impacted my life. From a youngster in 2018 to all I am doing now, anyone can make a significant impact within their community; just put your mind to it.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Belen? Find local volunteer opportunities.