Nuclear engineering student honored with Deborah S. Moore Service Award

Mark Menesses, a senior in nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University, has been named one of two “Volunteers of the Year” by the Deborah S. Moore Outstanding Student Service Awards program. The Deborah S. Moore Service Awards are given annually by NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service to students and clubs that demonstrate exemplary service and outstanding volunteerism.

Menesses began his service work at age 16 when Hurricane Katrina displaced his family from their New Orleans home for four months. He started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity on a regular basis, and continued his involvement when he enrolled at NC State by participating in the organization’s annual Shack-A-Thon on campus. In January 2010, he led a service trip to New Orleans to help with ongoing reconstruction projects. After graduation, he will participate in the “Bike & Build” program, raising a minimum of $4,000, cycling across America and building houses along the way.

As a Caldwell Fellow, Menesses has embraced the concept of “service living” by traveling and volunteering in China and Mexico as well as volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club and Kids Café in Raleigh. He is also the co-founder and president of Bricks Breaking Boundaries, a student club seeking to raise $25,000 to open a school in Cambodia. He has done this while maintaining a 3.6 GPA.

Menesses will spend next year as an AmeriCorps volunteer in San Jose, California, before beginning his career in nuclear engineering.