San Diego State University is known for its generosity and has worked to develop a culture of student philanthropy. In fact, it’s at the heart of SDSU’s philosophy, and Aztec Proud—a donation program—is a major initiative of the Office of Alumni Engagement. This past Giving Tuesday, Alumni staff and student volunteers spent the day at the SDSU Bookstore offering refreshments to previous student donors and gifts to new donors to encourage donations to the SDSU scholarship fund.
Throughout Giving Tuesday, SDSU strived to secure funding for scholarships, and in just a few hours, more than 100 new donors signed up for Aztec Proud to give back to the school community. Students and alumni were encouraged to donate just $10 to the Student Scholarship Fund to help a less fortunate student attend San Diego State University.
Beyond Giving Tuesday, where the focus was on scholarships, SDSU also gives back to the San Diego community. This year, for the holiday season, SDSU made it a goal to give 300,000 pounds of food to a local food bank. Between October 22 and November 15, students raised 414,000 pounds of food for the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank—the largest amount of food raised in the drive’s history.
“Once again, Aztecs Rock Hunger brought the campus community together for a common local cause,” said Dominic Bilotti, vice president of financial affairs for Associated Students in a recent news center release. “This campaign demonstrates the commitment and dedication of our university to bettering our community and helping those in need.”
Since the inception of the Aztecs Rock Hunger Drive, SDSU students have raised more than 1.1 million pounds of food. And to make sure that no SDSU students were left hungry, 10 percent of all the monetary donations were given to SDSU’s Economic Response Team—meaning $6,800 stayed on campus to help students.
To learn more about the various philanthropic opportunities available to San Diego State University students, visit the website.