September 04, 2009

Case for Community Day Sets Registration Record

Campus Community Can Still Participate in Donation Drives

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Campus members who've already signed up for Case for Community Day projects should give themselves a round of applause: a registration record has been set.

Although there are still a couple of weeks left until Case for Community Day on Friday, September 25, all service projects are filled, according to Latisha James, director of the Center for Community Partnerships.

"What a wonderful display of the university's continued spirit to serve. This is the best registration effort we've had," says James. "It typically takes three weeks for projects to be filled, and we have done it in one week."

While all of the service projects have volunteers confirmed, campus community members who have not had an opportunity to register can still give back by donating to one of the numerous donation drives being held the same day. People are encouraged to donate unused personal computers and cell phones, bring in canned foods, clean out their piggybanks for the Pennies for Peace effort, or sign up to give blood at an American Red Cross Blood Drive.

All donation drives will be held in Thwing Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more about the specific donation drives:

  • Personal and laptop computers--and computer accessories such as monitors, keyboards, printers, and speakers--will benefit local school systems and nonprofit agencies via the Green Computing for Kids program. "If it has value it will be deployed to schools and nonprofit organizations in Northeast Ohio for free," says Joseph Tarasco, program manager of green computing for OneCommunity, a nonprofit organization that serves Northern Ohio by connecting public and nonprofit institutions to fiber-optic networks. "If it doesn't have value it's recycled. This is a win-win situation. You can get computers into the hands of students who really need them, or the computer will be recycled, which reduces e-waste." Computer hard drives will be cleaned to Department of Defense specifications by RET3. Donated cell phones will be cleaned and donated to organizations such as the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life program. Contact Linda Robson, campus planning and operations fellow, or Bob Sopko, manager of strategic technology partnerships, Information Technology Services. Sopko says even broken equipment will be accepted.
  • The food drive is being coordinated by Bon Appetit, the university's food service provider. Nonperishable canned goods will be accepted throughout the day. Collected items will be donated to the Cleveland Foodbank. Several campus community members are already leading efforts to collect food for needy families. Scott Becka, a research technician at the School of Medicine, has contacted several departments within his school to set up donation bins and e-mailed colleagues, and he plans to bring collected food over to Thwing Center during Case for Community Day. "I've really wanted to do this for a while now," says Becka, who also is a student majoring in nutrition. Meanwhile, Jill Grauel, an employment specialist in the Department of Human Resources, has asked her colleagues to join in the food drive effort. "It is always good to help others. Encouraging my department to donate is an easy way to help," she says.

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    Blood donations are always needed to help during medical emergencies. An American Red Cross Blood drive will take place in Thwing Center's 1914 Lounge, as well as in Nord Hall 310 A and B. Pre-registration is required.

  • The Pennies for Peace donation drive will aid the humanitarian work of Fall Convocation speaker Greg Mortenson. Proceeds will help bring new schools to remote villages in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Learn more about the initiative.

For more information contact Kimyette Finley, 216.368.0521.

Posted by: Kimyette Finley, September 4, 2009 02:41 PM | News Topics: Alumnet, Alumni, Collaborations/Partnerships, Community Outreach, Faculty, Staff, Students

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