Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, (858) 534-7404, or Jan Jennings, (858) 822-1684

UCSD STUDENTS TO PRESENT WINTERFEST 2002-UCSD CARES
FEB. 19-22 TO BENEFIT LOCAL CHARITIES WITH GOODS, SERVICES

Hundreds of University of California, San Diego students will demonstrate how much they care about their community at a Winterfest 2002-UCSD Cares campaign to be held Feb. 19-22 on the UCSD campus.

The campaign is being presented by UCSD Associated Students to gather food, clothing, supplies, funds, and volunteers for local charities.

The theme is “Pick your cause … Choose your charity.”

Thirty UCSD organizations will sponsor campaign drives along UCSD’s Library Walk from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Feb. 19-22, with all donations and proceeds collected by each organization to go directly to the specific charity they have selected to benefit.

The organizations will offer a smorgasbord of things and services from which to choose: donate canned food, clothing, books, blankets, spare change; lend a hand by contributing to a cultural art project, creating greeting cards for Children’s Hospital; volunteer for beach cleanup, high school tutoring, a 70s disco fundraiser, and more.

Winterfest 2002-UCSD Cares will kick off Feb. 19 at an 11:30 a.m. brief introduction and a few words by a United Way speaker who has benefited from one of the local charities. A “Nooner” concert featuring the BDI Poker Face Band will follow.

Wrapping up the four-day campaign on Feb. 22 will be a free BBQ for UCSD students during the 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Library Walk campaign and a free concert for UCSD students only at 7:30 p.m. at RIMAC, featuring Jason Mraz, Fenix TX, and City High.

The participating UCSD organizations and the charities they are benefiting are: Rotaract, San Diego Children’s Hospital; SOLO, a UCSD community project; Still Thought Tzu Ching, Tzu Chi Foundation USA and Children’s Hospital; Ocean Awareness Club, San Diego beaches/ocean; Pi Beta Phi, Children’s Hospital; Partners at Learning, San Diego County High Schools; Future Educators of America, San Diego County High Schools; Peace Corps Recruiter, Peace Corps; Volunteer Connection, Scripps Torrey Pines Convalescent Hospital; Pre-Medical Association of Students for Service, multiple charities; Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Bienstar Human Services; Kappa Kappa Gamma, San Diego Youth and Community Services; Ad Club, local food banks; UCSD Library, Oceanside Reads Literacy Program; Alpha Kappa Psi, local school library.

Also, Muir Community Service Club, Society of St. Vincent De Paul’s; Warren College Service Club, San Diego Food Bank; Triton Tide, local food banks; Warren College, San Diego Blood Drive; Pike Fraternity, San Diego Blood Drive; Active Community at Thurgood, San Diego Red Cross International Peace Kit; UCSD Bookstore, United Way/multiple agencies; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Children’s Miracle Network; Academic Internship Program, overseas military troops; Delta Gamma, Blind Institute of San Diego and Brail Institute; Cross Cultural Center, Cross Cultural Center; United Way, San Diego United Way; Alpha Chi Omega, Oceanside’s Women’s Resource Center and Easter Seals; UCSD Student Foundation, a UCSD community project, and C.O.R.E, to be announced.

A donation of any kind enters the participant into a daily drawing of prizes. For further information on Winterfest 2002-UCSD Cares call (858) 534-5307.