BUILD To Dedicate Seven Clinics In Honor Of Fallen Aggies

Students from Texas A&M University’s BUILD will hold a dedication ceremony for five newly constructed clinics on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 10 a.m., along with two additional clinics scheduled for completion during the upcoming spring semester.

Since 2013, the volunteer service organization has been converting shipping containers into self-contained medical clinics, which can be sent to remote and underserved communities around the world. On Saturday, the group will celebrate another milestone, as it dedicates six new Texas Aggie Medical Clinics and the second Texas Aggie Veterinary Clinic. Following BUILD’s tradition of honoring fallen Aggies, the medical clinics will be dedicated to five Aggie service members who died in the line of duty, as well as the late Jerry Ebanks, a longtime BUILD adviser and volunteer. The veterinary clinic will be dedicated to former Texas A&M mascot Reveille II, who represented the university from 1952 to 1966.

Once the clinics are complete, BUILD partners with a variety of nonprofit organizations to ship them where they are needed most. Following Saturday’s dedication ceremony, the completed clinics are bound for Ukraine, Nigeria, Jordan, Kenya and South Texas’ Kenedy County, with the two spring semester clinics destined for Raymondville and Jeff Davis County.

“Over the past eight and a half weeks, thousands of students, in the spirit of selfless service, have come together to construct five medical clinics that will be deployed around the world, helping to provide accessible health care to underserved communities,” said BUILD CEO Lauryn Kastenschmidt ’25. “Before they are sent out, these clinics are dedicated in honor of members of the Aggie Family that have fallen in service to their country. Our dedication ceremony, which happens each fall, is an opportunity for the families of the honored to tell the stories of their loved ones, as well as view the hard work and passion that the students have put into the clinic that will carry on their soldier’s legacy.”

This year’s military honorees are 2nd Lt. Clayton Jack Kennedy ’98, Capt. Sean Patrick Sims ’94, Lance Cpl. Luke Yepsen ’08, Cpl. Christopher West ’04 and Airman 1st Class James “Adam” Lassiter ’08.

The dedication will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the BUILD Site at 652 Agronomy Road in College Station. The ceremony will include remarks by family members of this year’s honorees, a presentation of plaques to the honoree families by BUILD leaders, and tours of the completed clinics. Members of the public are invited to attend. Parking will be available in Lot 88 by the General Services Complex.

“These clinics could not have been completed without BUILD’s permanent structure, which was finished in September 2024,” said BUILD Marketing Team Leader Gianna Aldrett ’26. “The permanent structure would not have been possible without the generous donation from Dorothy McFerrin and other donors who made it possible.”

For more information about BUILD’s mission and how to get involved, visit buildtamu.com.