You might have noticed our online presence up and running all of a sudden, or a an abundance of emails sent to volunteers recruited from the nearby universities and donors, and a petite individual with a camera at hand at all times during our events. This week's Staff Spotlight goes to someone who works behind the scenes, but always hard at work. We'd like for you to get to know our Marketing and Fundraising VISTA, Zuleima Melendez.
Ms. Zuleima began her first year with us in late August through the Corporation for National & Community Service branch, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) which is basically a domestic peace corps program in which members are placed into nonprofit organizations throughout the nation to build capacity, sustainability and help alleviate poverty in the communities they serve. When Ms. Zuleima was applying for her service site near home, one particular nonprofit organization stood out to her. "I found Denton Christian Preschool on the listing and I realized I had volunteered there before during my junior year in college," Ms. Zuleima recalls. "I was in Mrs. Porras' bilingual class during National Children's Literacy week, so when I actually started working here Mrs. Porras recognized me and said, 'Hey, you look familiar'." Ms. Zuleima works behind the scenes at DCP, working on marketing, fundraising planning, grant writing and anything else that falls under these areas. Ms. Zuleima received her Bachelor's degree in Journalism with a concentration in Advertising from the University of North Texas in December 2017. Before working at DCP, Ms. Zuleima interned with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Dallas as a Marketing Intern and later became the Marketing Coordinator at the end of her term. Although Ms. Zuleima is our newbie here at DCP, her work hasn't gone unnoticed and by the looks of it, she enjoys working here too! "Do I like working at DCP? No, I LOVE it! Especially when I'm told my social media posts are funny," Ms. Zuleima said. "Even though I don't work with the children directly, I still get to see them and they know me. I love the staff and the work environment feels like home. I see the hard work and commitment the staff here has to prepare students for success in their education and it's so inspiring." When Ms. Zuleima isn't working, you can catch her taking family and senior photos, catching up on Netflix shows, spending quality time with her friends and family, or trying out new taco shops in the DFW area.