California State University Bakersfield held its third annual 24-hour Giving Day on Thursday. It's a time when people in the community are encouraged to make a donation to the university to support students in various programs and departments on campus.
There are over a dozen programs to choose from for this year’s CSUB Giving Day. From housing and food insecurity to student affairs, and more.
Eric Weis is the director of Annual Giving and Stewardship at CSUB and he says last year’s Giving Day raised around $245,000. So far this year donations have reached ______.
Weis says the funds raised not only help students but the community as well.
“We want to create value and build that trust with our community as well to support our students because when our students rise and thrive, so does our community.”
Weis said 64 percent of the university’s students are the first in their families to enroll in a university and are in need of financial support to continue classes and graduate.
"We want to see them grow, we want to see them strive and provide the tools that they need to help them get there.”
He adds that Giving Day significantly helps all students at CSUB who have been impacted by the global pandemic and rising inflation.
“They’re getting re-integrated here on campus. We just started classes back up here in August. There are those outside challenges. In addition to tuition, many of our students may not be able to afford that. It's an opportunity for us as a community to rally around them and help support them."
The day also funds scholarships that help research students complete their studies which oftentimes require trips out of state.
“Just the amount of knowledge that they gain from their research is just unbelievable. They're able to build up intellectual curiosity and then they’re also able to build that confidence to go out and present their findings,” said Weis.
One of those students is Dylan Jones.
“Without those funds, there wouldn’t have been a path for me to take this road trip out to Colorado."
Jones says he was able to explore different cities in Colorado to study western art history thanks to the community’s generosity.
"As a student, you have to kind of prioritize just surviving sometimes. With these funds, I could actually do more as a student. I could go further, get more research done, and create better work.”
Donations can be made up until 11:59 p.m. Thursday night. You can make one by visiting their website and selecting the department or program of your choice, entering your contact information, and submitting the donation amount there.
