Elks honors Martínez, Cuevas-Marquez

Martínez has also worked at the FISH Food Bank and helped to prepare and serve Thanksgiving dinner at a food shelter. Working at the food bank has been her favorite community service because, she said, “As someone who has had to rely on resources such as this, it is important to actively involve youth in [extending] help to our fellow community.”

Martínez worked at Harvest Fest, assisting children in games and art projects, and bought and distributed Christmas gifts for the Hit and Run Santa Project. She helped set up the ceremony for the youth Peace Poster awards, she collected bottles and cans to raise money for various local clubs, she helped sort clothes at the Adult Center Thrift Shop, collected and distributed shoes for the needy through Soles for Souls, sold refreshments at Movies in the Park, and assisted Labor Day Cross Channel swimmers by collecting and safe guarding their belongings during the swim.

Outside of academics and volunteer work, Martínez stays busy with two jobs, one as a busser and hostess at Stonehedge Gardens, and the other as a clerk at Washboard Eco Laundry. She is a hard worker, a creative problem solver, responsible, reliable, and bilingual in English and Spanish, said the Elks press release. She plans to attend the University of Oregon this fall, majoring in biochemistry.

Cuevas-Marquez is the daughter of Rodrigo and Maria Cuevas. Her community services ranges far and wide: She has raised money to fight cancer with the high school Relay for Life team, The Fight Club, regularly volunteers at the Mt. Hood Town Hall and the Hood River Valley Adult Thrift Store, and has translated at the Wy’east Fall Eagle Fest. Cuevas-Marquez has also helped out at the Gala Fashion Show to raise money for the Christmas Basket Project, participated in Bowl for Kids’ Sake to help the Big Brother Big Sister program, and has sold concessions at the Movies in the Park event. She served as a translator at the HRVHs Open House, helped at the blood drive, and worked at several Fourth of July events. She’s worked for a local business on Community Work Day several times, and helped at the Harvest Festival and FISH Food Bank.

Cuevas-Marquez’s premiere service has been as part of the Leo’s club, the youth version of the Lions’ Club. She has performed many hours of community service with the Leos, including recycling cans and bottles, volunteering at FISH and helping to organize the meetings. In 2017, she was chosen to attend the Lions International Convention in Chicago to work alongside youth volunteers from all over the U.S. She says that her most meaningful community service has been volunteering at the local food bank. When she saw the need for feminine hygiene products, she created a program called Armor for the Dame. This program aims to give low income women free feminine hygiene products. She set up collection bins at local businesses and the products are delivered to FISH, where they are distributed to needy women.

Cuevas-Marquez takes a full load of advanced classes and participates in track and field. She has been honored for academic excellence in her Spanish class. She works at Subway as a sandwich artist. Her oldest brother, Rodrigo, lives in Bend, and her second oldest brother lives in Hood River. Cuevas-Marquez plans to attend the University of Oregon and study political science, hoping to join the fight for peace and justice for all.