Mendoza Spreads Goodwill in San Antonio

By Rafael Ayuso

During a two-day visit to the Alamo City in March, AARP VP of Campaigns Belén Mendoza joined AARP Texas staff members for a first-hand look at AARP's ongoing work in San Antonio.

Rafael Ayuso, Veronica de Lafuente and Lisa Rodriguez kept Belén—and Campaigns Advisor Chad Horrell—quite busy with visits to key public officials and congressmen, meetings with potential partners and interviews with reporters from major newspapers and TV stations.

To begin her whirlwind tour, Belén met with staff of Mayor Julián Castro and freshman congressmen Joaquín Castro (CD 20) and Pete Gallego (CD 23). The group also visited with Palo Alto College President Dr. Michael Flores to brainstorm ideas for future partnerships with the college, including Affordable Care Act education.

In addition, Belén did interviews in English with reporters from the San Antonio Express-News and the Southside Reporter, as well as TV interviews in Spanish with the local affiliates of Telemundo and Univision. She spoke about AARP's mission and particularly our work on Social Security and Medicare. It was a hectic couple of days, but well worth it for everyone involved.

Winding down at the end of her tour, Belén mingled with San Antonio volunteers during a luncheon at a popular local Mexican restaurant, Pico de Gallo.

“Great day today!” Belén says, “Good meetings and [I] got [to] see some of the coolest buildings in San Antonio.”

Hayley Hervieux also contributed to this post.