Everyone has heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday—days that allow customers to score deals on their shopping lists. But in an attempt to put the spirit of giving back into the holiday season, there’s a more altruistic day making headway: Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy on Dec. 3.
This is the second year for Giving Tuesday (known as #GivingTuesday) around the world and at Case Western Reserve—and this time, there are even more ways to support university organizations seeking to make a positive difference in people’s lives through a dedicated effort called #GivingTuesdayatCWRU.
As part of #GivingTuesdayatCWRU, schools, departments and student groups across the campus ask the community to support projects like building high-quality houses nationwide and providing extended hours for a student-run health clinic. In all, 15 different causes have joined the #GivingTuesdayatCWRU effort.
“Case Western Reserve University benefits the community in service, research and education. We are thankful to the many faculty, staff, students and alumni who participate in these activities,” said Lara Kalafatis, vice president of university relations. “By participating in #GivingTuesdayatCWRU, you can make a difference in their efforts—and in the lives of those people they benefit."
Below are a few of the groups seeking your help:
- Case EMS: Provide new equipment to the student-run, volunteer emergency medical service group.
- Center for Civic Engagement and Learning: Expand “Alternative Break” programs for students to provide community service around the world.
- College of Arts and Sciences Emerging Scholars Program: Support scholarships and stipends for entering students from the Cleveland area so that they can take part in a summer bridge program and build mentoring relationships with faculty and staff before their first semester at Case Western Reserve.
- The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women: Provide fellowships and scholarships for students in the area of gender equity.
- Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing capstone program: Help defray costs of the capstone program, through which students spend 10 weeks working with vulnerable populations.
- Habitat for Humanity: Support the group’s winter break trip to construct quality, affordable homes.
- Labre Homeless Outreach Program: Help student serve the homeless population of Cleveland, from providing hot meals to offering blankets, clothing and toiletries.
- LGBT Center: Expand the Safe Zone program, a network of volunteers dedicated to creating a community of respect for LGBT students, faculty and staff.
- School of Dental Medicine’s Healthy Smiles Sealant Program: Support the program, which provides Cleveland Metropolitan School District students with free dental examinations and education.
- School of Law’s Laura Chisolm Social Justice Fellowship: Support an endowed fellowship for law students in the name and memory of Chisolm, a professor at the law school who passed away in 2011.
- School of Medicine Alzheimer’s research: Enable researchers to continue exploring the possibilities of reversing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Student-Run Free Clinic: Purchase medical supplies for and expand hours of the clinic, which serves more than 400 underserved patients in the Cleveland area every year.
- Student Sustainability Council: Support the student-led council’s “rain gardens” project.
- think[ box ]: Help purchase fully equipped mobile 3-D printer workstations for the university’s public invention center.
- Weatherhead School of Management research project on Personal Finance in Developing Countries: Allow Silvia Prina, associate professor of economics, to continue her research on how creating simple village banks in Nepal could benefit the communities.