New Mexico university sending team to Texas to provide help

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — A state university in New Mexico is sending a 40-member team of faculty, students and staff to Texas to help in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The team is led by Beth Massaro, a social work professor who says "there's been a tremendous response" from within the university. Massaro says the team will travel Sept. 27 to the coastal community of Rockport, Texas, to volunteer at donation centers, help with cleanup efforts and other provide other aid. Massaro visited Rockport after the storm and she says damage was staggering with many homes and businesses destroyed and numerous snapped-off utility poles and downed trees. She says the team will camp on the property of a Highlands professor. New Mexico Highlands is headquartered in Las Vegas, New Mexico.