UCSD Cares to Hold Gift Card Drive to Help Fire Victims

Jan Jennings | January 22, 2008

UCSD Cares will sponsor Fire Relief 2007, a gift card drive to help UCSD faculty, staff and students and members of the greater San Diego community most affected by the October 2007 wildfires. The drive will be held today through Friday along Library Walk.

“Recovery and rebuilding from the devastating fires will be a long, expensive process, and will require ongoing support from the community,” says Irma Velasco, co-chair of the gift card drive committee and director of campus relations in the Chancellor’s Office.

UCSD Cares is offering support by collecting gift cards and/or cash for the purchase of gift cards (preferably in $10 increments) to distribute to fire victims.

Gift card drive staff and student volunteers dressed in red will be out in force from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to collect donations. Gift cards are needed from the following suggested retailers: Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Best Buy and supermarkets including Ralphs, Vons, Albertsons, Trader Joe’s, and Food 4 Less. All donors will receive a UCSD Cares button for their support.

UCSD Cares was initiated by students and staff after 9/11. The annual benefit event is sponsored by the UCSD Cares Student Organization, the Center for Student Involvement, the UCSD Bookstore, campus departments and other volunteers to provide contributions for local San Diego non-profit organizations through donations, fundraising, and service projects. In the past, UCSD Cares responded to the 2003 Cedar fires and the 2005 hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

For further information on UCSD Cares contact Irma Velasco at (858) 534-6862, ivelasco@ucsd.edu or visit http://ucsdcares.ucsd.edu/archives.php.