UCLA’s philanthropic activity keeps growing

While Unicamp, UCLA’s official student charity, gets ready to send nearly 1,000 underprivileged children to an outdoor summer camp in the San Bernardino mountains, there are several other major philanthropic events students organize throughout the year raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.

From popular events such as Dance Marathon to the Greek system’s nationally imposed requirements, students with diverse interests and financial backgrounds come together to facilitate various philanthropic projects.

Unicamp Director of Program Enhancement Jason Liou said the longevity of Unicamp inspires many to participate, as the camp is 73 years old.

“It’s a UCLA tradition handed down from siblings and parents,” he said.

Liou said that each year students raise between $700,000 and $800,000 in grants, personal donations and special events and hope to raise the same amount this year.

He added that the families pay $75 a week, and Unicamp fundraises the rest of the costs to give children a chance to go to summer camp who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity.

“It’s mainly (for) kids who are at or below the poverty level,” he said.

He explained that all the counselors are undergraduate and graduate students who go through over 100 hours of training and donate a week of their summer.

Liou said the camp offers arts and crafts, swimming and even a game called “the ABCs of life,” where campers go through mock classes, get college degrees, and “work” to get mock paychecks.

“It gives them an idea of the importance of a higher education,” he said of the camp, which runs for seven different weeks from June 30 to August 18.

The power of education led Aviva Altmann, the director of Dance Marathon, to her philanthropic concentration.

“It’s wonderful (to take the) gifts education can give you and put them toward helping community … a lot of that is because of the atmosphere on campus,” she said.

Dance Marathon, a 26-hour-long fundraiser in which students pledge to dance for the duration, requires their volunteers to donate a minimum of $225 to participate, but she said most go above and beyond this amount.

“Everyone leaves with a feeling of “˜Wow that was such an incredible event, I want to do it over and over again,'” she said.

She said this year’s event raised $330,245 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and two camps for children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Altmann said students challenging themselves and “going through a little bit of pain” is one part of the philanthropic focus of the campus.

“I think UCLA is incredible with philanthropy and community service,” she said.

This is something Jonathan Pham, Undergraduate Students Association Council Student Welfare commissioner, understood before getting involved with Run/Walk, an annual charity event that directly benefits Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.

“I got to see what all the money was going toward … and wanted to get more involved,” he said of his previous volunteer work at the hospital.

Pham said these proceeds benefited the Child Life/Child Development Program at the hospital.

The program augments patients’ lives by providing things such as playrooms where doctors aren’t allowed to interrupt, Pham said.

“It’s a sanctuary where they can have a little bit of their childhood back,” he said.

Though he said he wouldn’t know the final total of the donations until midsummer, Pham said 965 people participated at a $15 or $20 registration fee.

He said he believes Run/Walk is on the right path with its efforts to include as much of the community as possible with a relatively low registration fee compared to other charity events on campus.

“We’re putting our money toward an event where all students can participate,” he said.

Relay for Life was another event this year that got students moving for a philanthropic cause.

Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, approximately 100 teams and 1,000 people participated in Relay for Life this year and spent the night at Drake Stadium to raise money for cancer research.

The event raised $127,118.60 this year, which was $67,000 more than last year’s relay, according to Daily Bruin archives.

Stephanie Chang, USAC Community Service commissioner, said she thinks the school’s access to different communities around the area allows for all the diverse opportunities for service.

“UCLA’s central location in L.A. makes access to these populations much easier,” Chang said.

She said the student government committee organizes various projects to give back to the community, such as their focus on hunger and homelessness issues.

Chang said the focus helps students understand these issues and how they affect the community around them.

“It’s around us all the time. We need to be aware of it and understand it,” she said.

Greek Adviser Troy Bartels said getting involved in the Greek system is one way of gaining exposure to philanthropic opportunities.

“There’s a huge sense of pride ingrained in the (Greek) system,” he said of participation in philanthropic events.

He said each fraternity and sorority has a specific philanthropic cause; for example, Alpha Delta Pi supports the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, while Sigma Chi supports the Children’s Miracle Network.

“There is a huge tradition of donating to certain charities (exhibited by) all UCLA students, including those in the Greek system,” he said.