HOUSTON \u2014 Shipping containers get all sorts of uses these days, but Texas A&M students are working together to “BUILD” something very special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Mobile medical clinics out of shipping containers,\u201d A&M senior Abby Launikitis, of Cypress, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She’s this year\u2019s CEO of the student-run organization actually called BUILD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It grew from an idea to unify the campus through a work project after the bonfire collapse tragedy.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n “And we\u2019ve done containers ever since then,” said Launikitis. “I believe after this fall we will have finished 32 containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A shipping container clinic was dedicated in Jordan earlier this year while others serve various needs in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Maybe it\u2019s a shot clinic, maybe it\u2019s a full medical exam room, maybe they just use the container as an educational opportunity,” said COO and mechanical engineering student Roger Stark. “A base to have other programs out of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Volunteers build out the containers every fall semester while planning and raising money in the spring and summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A&M provides a construction site. However, the $100,000 annual goal comes entirely from donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That\u2019s why we love doing these interviews because one of our biggest donors this year hears about us through a Texas A&M magazine,\u201d said CFO and graduate student Ivan Rivas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A number of shipping container clinics recently supplemented hospitals dealing with spikes in COVID cases.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n And a project currently in the works will help provide resources to folks even closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clinics will serve support staff who work on the A&M campus who might not have access to ideal medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We like to say we\u2019re \u201cemployed\u201d by BUILD,” said Launikitis. “But it\u2019s all volunteer work, so it\u2019s really cheap employment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the students said they can’t imagine anything being more gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n