Charitable Campaign targets hard-hit charities and campus programs

By Karen Holtermann, Public Affairs

06 November 2002 | As the economy dips and budgets are tight, the impact comes down hard on community and campus programs to aid students, people in need, health projects, the arts, and other efforts that define Berkeley and the Bay Area. Campus employees have an opportunity to ease that crunch by donating to any campus program or local or national charitable organization through the UC Berkeley Charitable Campaign 2002.

The campaign was launched this month and will run through Dec. 5. Details on donating were mailed this week to all faculty and staff and are available online at www.berkeley.edu/charitable.

Many campus employees give of their time and money to a wide array of charities and programs, Chancellor Berdahl said, “but the Charitable Campaign is our chance to give as a community, to the community.”

Especially featured this year are the campus’s own programs, many of which have been hit by lean budgets. School/University Partnerships (formerly the Berkeley Pledge), a model outreach program for local K-12 students, has been a popular choice for campaign donors for several years. But participants can also target other campus programs, from the UC Botanical Garden to the Cal Band, or from individual departments to campus libraries and museums.

Campus organizers say there are several pluses to giving through the Charitable Campaign:

• Participants target their gifts to the causes they choose.
• Through a special UC Berkeley arrangement, 100 percent of staff and faculty gifts go directly to the charities they designate.
• Donors can make giving decisions once a year, not every time a solicitation arrives in the mail.
• Giving is easy, through monthly payroll deduction or by check or credit card.

For information, look for the campaign packet in campus mail, visit berkeley.edu/charitable, or call 642-1574.