PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – In the wake of Hurricane Lidia, the community of Puerto Vallarta has shown remarkable resilience and unity. A significant clean-up operation was undertaken by the members of the Go Routes and Runners Puerto Vallarta program from the Centro Universitario de la Costa (CUCosta), who took to the streets to restore the main thoroughfares of the municipality.
Adrián Pelayo, the coordinator of Go Routes, reported that an assembly of 50 individuals from the university and the wider community rallied to combine physical exercise with environmental cleanup. The volunteers, equipped with garbage bags and gloves, traversed areas impacted by the hurricane, including Francisco Villa, Francisco Medina Ascencio Avenue, the Infonavit neighborhood, Los Sauces, and successfully collected 220 kilograms of waste within a time span of 80 minutes.
The programs directed by Pelayo are designed to not only encourage physical activity but also to inculcate a sense of social responsibility and sustainability. The recent hurricane inflicted significant damage on Puerto Vallarta, and these programs aim to foster community spirit and contribute positively to the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainability.
Pelayo emphasized the economic efficiency of the initiative, stating that the use of community volunteer work significantly reduced potential costs. While professional services for such a clean-up could have required approximately 20,000 pesos, covering operating expenses, materials, and labor, the community-driven effort necessitated a mere 350 pesos. This presents a significant saving for municipal resources.
The clean-up event also serves a dual purpose by fulfilling CUCosta’s objective of community engagement. The university encourages its students to partake in social action, demonstrating the impactful role they can play in the tangible transformation of their environment and society at large.
This initiative by the Go Routes and Runners Puerto Vallarta, supported by CUCosta, is a testament to the power of community-driven action and the profound effects it can have on a city’s recovery following a natural disaster. It stands as an inspiring example of how collective efforts can lead to substantial contributions to both the environment and the social fabric of a locality.
