Cal State San Bernardino faculty and staff opened their hearts as well as their cupboards and wallets as they donated during the Employee Appreciation Picnic more than 3,300 pounds of non-perishable food and hygiene items along with $436 in cash and gift cards to the university’s food pantry for students.
The donations to the “DENation Drive,” which were collected at special booths during the picnic, were broken up by division with Academic Affairs employees giving the most in donations — $254 in cash and gift cards and 1,614 pounds in food, said Diane Podolske, director of the CSUSB Office of Community Engagement, which oversees the DEN short for Delivering Emergency Nourishment.
The picnic, which was held on Sept. 16, featured music, games, prizes, free food along with a dunk tank, was part of the day-long Employee Development Day with sessions on information technology, personal health and wellness, and career skills advancement.
The breakdown of donations by division to the DEN is listed below. The cash and gift card donations were then converted to a five pound food donation for every $10 given.
Visit The DEN food pantry website for more information.
For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.