Houston Relocation Professionals supports local community.
Houston Relocation Professionals (HRP) holds several events each year that are in keeping with the organization’s mission, which is to provide meaningful, educational, networking, and community outreach opportunities for professionals supporting workforce mobility.
This message is greatly reflected in HRP’s longstanding commitment to giving back to the local community through its many outreach initiatives, which support various charitable organizations and events.
Most recently, HRP held its annual Game Day with the Astros at Minute Maid Park, where members gathered to enjoy the game and to host Candlelighters’ families who were also in attendance.
Candlelighters is an organization that provides emotional, educational and practical support to families of children with cancer.
This year, HRP members sponsored five Candlelighters’ families to attend the game, and also treated them to a behindthe-scenes tour of Minute Maid Park, Astros merchandize, and a traditional ballpark meal.
Don Rupe is vice president, general manager for Graebel Van Lines and serves on HRP’s board of directors as the chairman of the outreach committee. He said that HRP has supported Candlelighters for many years, and that the idea of inviting the families to the Astros game was to provide a fun diversion from their daily challenges. “Our hope is that the families can come to the game, and maybe forget about being cancer patients for a day,” explained Rupe. “It’s a really fun day for all of us, and I think it makes it more meaningful to have these families there, and to know that we are doing our part to make their day a little better and help Candlelighters with their mission in that way.” He added that HRP and Candlelighters have a strong bond with many intersections. “There are many families that temporarily relocate to Houston in order for their children to receive cancer treatment. We’ve also had several members of the Houston relocation community who have received support from Candlelighters.”
Additionally, all of the donations and support that HRP gives to Candlelighters stays right here in Houston to help members of our local community.
Also in attendance at the Astros game was one of HRP’s 2016 scholarship winners, Tarek Dawamne, who relocated to Houston from Damascus, Syria.
According to Rupe, the HRP scholarship program was designed to assist students who had to relocate during their high school years, and who had to overcome challenges, both socially and academically as a result of their move.
“The HRP Scholarship Program is kind of an acknowledgement that we want to help those kids who relocated during high school and might have things a little bit harder than some of their peers when it comes to achieving academically, and with securing scholarship dollars,” Rupe said.
As part of the scholarship application process, the students submitted essays about their relocation experience and offered advice to other kids who may be facing a relocation during their high school career. Rupe explained that the inequalities between educational requirements, credit values and grading systems when a student moves to Houston from other states or countries, was one of the most consistent themes in the students’ essays.
“Relocating can really set students back in their progression,” said Rupe. “When Tarek moved here, the curriculum in Syria did not translate well, so he had to repeat his Junior year. He also had very limited English-speaking skills, but he repeated that year and went on to take a lot of challenging AP classes to improve his class rank.”
Towards the end of the game, Dawamne was given an Astros jersey, and remarked to Rupe that he was now an Astros fan.
“I thought that was a great testament to his Americanization and his Houstonization, as well as about the remarkable young kid that he really is,” Rupe said.
HRP also encourages participation in other upcoming charitable events this year, including the Candlelighters’ Fun Walk and HRP’s Annual Golf Tournament.
HRP is putting a team together again this year for the Candlelighters’ Fun Walk, which will be held on Saturday, September 10 at Terry Hershey Park.
Then in October, HRP will hold its golf tournament, which is the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year.
“We traditionally have about 80 to 100 HRP members and their guests participate in the golf tournament, which raises money for Candlelighters,” said Rupe. “We then present our annual donation to Candlelighters at our Holiday Social in December. Last year that amount was $17,500.”
For more information about HRP, please visit www.houstonrelopros.org. For more information about Candlelighters or to make a donation, please visit www. candle.org.