UCSD Shows the Community it CARES

By Heather Holliday I February 14, 2005

Christine Tran, a second year student, displays the foot of hair she is donating to Locks of Love. "It will grow back," she said.

A row of students sat on stationary bicycles that were parked on Library Walk and pedaled for 24 hours straight last week, as part of the 4th annual UCSD Cares event. The marathon pedaling, put on by the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, was meant to bring awareness to hunger and help sell raffle tickets to raise money for Mazon, a Jewish organization that provides for the hungry.

The bike marathon was only one of a number of innovative fundraisers to do Library Walk last week. Dozens of campus organizations collected money, clothing, food items, toys and blood for local community charities such as the Pulitzer Program, a tutoring and mentoring program for underprivileged children, and March of Dimes, which works to prevent birth defects and infant mortality. Sponsored by Associated Students, SOLO and the UCSD Bookstores, the weeklong, annual event was launched after September 11, 2001, to gather contributions for the local community.

Panhellenic organized stylists to cut hair, which will be donated to Locks of Love.

"Despite two rain days, we had an extremely successful UCSD Cares campaign this year," said Emily Marx, student organizations advisor. "We had 78 organizations participate this year [up from 60 last year], plus 15 community agencies who tabled to recruit volunteers."

Participating organizations included Future Business Leaders of America, California Student Public Interest Research Group, Red Cross Club, Persian Club, Flying Samaritans and Art For Change.

Revelle Community Outreach offered the faces of RAs, staff and professors to be pied for $1; money collected will go to the Camp Ronald McDonald Good Time. The Still Thoughts Organization set up a booth where people could make cards, paper cranes and paper flowers to be donated to the Evergreen La Jolla Healthcare hospital.

Alpha Epsilon Pi recruited volunteers to bike from Wednesday at 5 p.m. until the following day at 5 p.m. Volunteers rotated, but pedals kept going - all in an effort to raise money for the hungry.

Panhellenic brought stylists from Joelle's Salon in Carmel Mountain Ranch to cut hair to be donated to Locks of Love, which provides hair pieces to disadvantaged children who suffer from hair loss caused by medical treatments, such as chemotherapy. The booth had a steady stream of customers, said Nicole Luniewski, a junior who organized the Panhellenic event. While 25 people donated their locks, another 30 people pledged to grow their hair for a future cutting. "People get scared [about the idea of cutting their hair]," she said. "But once you tell them that it's for kids who can't grow their hair, they get excited."

A number of groups focused on tsunami relief, said Marx. One organization collected money and decorated quilt squares that will be sewn together to be displayed in Sri Lanka. Approximately $100 in spare change was collected at the annual Associated Students winterfest concert to benefit UNICEF's tsunami relief efforts. Plus, the Muslim Student Association raised hundreds of dollars for Islamic Relief to benefit the tsunami victims.

Volunteers who stayed overnight for the Alpha Epsilon Pi bike-a-thon slept in tents off Library Walk.

The first UCSD Cares, in 2002, raised more than $1,000 for local charities, as well as other items, including food, clothing, books, toys, and school supplies. This year, preliminary totals reached more than $3,600 collected in spare change (plus additional change that was donated at the UCSD Bookstore, which has not yet been totaled). The goal each year is to grow in impact and contributions.