When beloved educator and track coach Arcadio “Archie” Duran Jr. died in a bus accident bringing his Irvin High girls track team home from a track meet in Lubbock, he left a huge hole in the lives of his students, fellow teachers and administrators, family, friends and loved ones.

“Aside from being a coach and teacher, he was a brother, a son, a father and a mentor,” said Alex Duran, Coach Duran’s brother and the spokesperson for the Coach Archie Duran Memorial Fund.

When the family decided to set up the fund to provide scholarships for the EPISD students that Duran cared so much about and to provide funds for teachers to purchase school supplies, they turned to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation for help and guidance.

“The Paso del Norte Community Foundation is an incredible resource for the community,” Duran said. “They guide you, they help you, they give you information on how to set up a fund and provide the resources to succeed.”

Duran said he recently attended several classes provided by the Paso del Norte Community Foundation on how to set up and manage social media accounts, create newsletters and use other online tools to raise funds and raise community awareness for nonprofit organizations.

Duran said that he’s also looking forward to his family’s organization participating in this year’s El Paso Giving Day. Giving Day is the day thousands of El Pasoans give back to the community by selecting from a number of trusted local nonprofit organizations to donate to. The minimum donation of $10 makes it easy for people to donate and the friendly competition between nonprofits to see who can raise the most funds makes it a fun way to collect donations.

Giving Day is on Thursday, November 15, 2018.

“El Paso, as a community, is very lucky to have the Paso del Norte Community Foundation available to us,” Duran said.

Since forming the Archie Duran Memorial Fund, the organization has held a 1-mile fun run, a car wash and a yard sale. So far, they have raised enough funds to provide two EPISD student-athletes with college scholarships to help them further their education, something Coach Duran was very passionate about.

Setting up the Archie Duran Memorial Fund with the help of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, Duran says has been a form of therapy for his family and himself.

“It helps us cope and it helps the community, as well,” Duran said. “That was important to him.”

Upcoming events for the Coach Archie Duran Memorial Fund include more yard sales and a 5K run in 2019.

For more information, head to the Coach Archie Duran Memorial Fund’s Facebook page.