University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Extra step for community campaign

Carolyn Neuner holds up "Speed Bumps," the bra she created for the “artful bra” fundraiser being organized by Student Academic Records and Financial Services for UB’s 2009 Employee Campaign for the Community. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI

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By CHARLOTTE HSU

Published: July 22, 2009

Hot dogs, lingerie, Buffalo Bisons bobbleheads and a cache of “guilty pleasures” came together at Porter Quadrangle in the Ellicott Complex last week as part of a fund raiser for UB’s 2009 Employee Campaign for the Community.

The event, a two-hour hot dog roast and raffle that a few Student Academic Records and Financial Services staffers planned, exemplified the creativity that UB workers bring to the campaign, a university-wide effort to raise money for good causes through employee giving.

In the days before the benefit, organizers secured a bevy of donations, including meat from Mineo & Sapio Italian Sausage. Raffle prizes ranged from a box of puzzles and games that Buffalo Games provided to a “guilty pleasures” basket containing items employees contributed, such as bath salts, scented candles, Cosmopolitan magazine and a novel whose cover bore the captivating words, “Out of his dreams…and into his arms.”

On display at the lunch-time barbecue was an “artful bra,” a brassiere decorated by Carolyn Neuner, a UB shuttle driver, to increase awareness about breast cancer. For her project, titled “Speed Bumps,” Neuner fastened to the bra pieces of thin foam cut and painted to resemble road signs. Red, yellow and green beading represented traffic signals. Foam stop signs adorned the center of each cup. The undergarment is one of about 20 scheduled to be exhibited at the Center for the Arts this fall and auctioned off to benefit the American Cancer Society as part of UB’s Employee Campaign for the Community.

“My mother-in-law had breast cancer. My sister-in-law is fighting breast cancer,” says Neuner, who sees the project as a fun way to build awareness about a serious health concern.

Since 2002, contributions to UB’s Employee Campaign for the Community have topped $6.1 million, says Jessica Biegaj, the drive’s campus coordinator. In 2008, donations reached about $877,000.

UB’s faculty and staff have a long-standing reputation for outstanding support of UB’s annual employee campaign, campaign organizers say. Among local companies and organizations, UB consistently has the most generous employee campaign.

Each year, UB employees can participate by donating to one or more of hundreds of local, national and international charities. And many people take the extra step and join committees that organize additional fund-raising events.

The Student Academic Records and Financial Services committee that planned the hot dog roast and artful bras project raised more than $600 through last week’s events. Annual totals for a group representing University Business Services and University Human Resources have exceeded $4,000.

“We’re blessed that we have jobs and our health and our families, and I think it’s just a nice way to be able to give back and have fun doing it,” says Kelly Stich, an administrative assistant in the controller’s office and one of 12 members of the university business services and human resources campaign committee that organizes events all year long.

Dawn Starke, who chairs the group, shares that sentiment: “My life is blessed and I want to try and help other people in some way.”

Starke, an administrative assistant in Procurement Services, has served on the committee for about two decades; Stich for 13 years. The two have worked with colleagues to plan fund raisers for charities ranging from Cradle Beach and Habitat for Humanity to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Canine Helpers for the Handicapped. Events have included ice cream fund raisers and book sales. Vendors the group has invited to Crofts Hall, North Campus, sell everything from jewelry to purses, donating a portion of profits to the campaign.

Besides raising money for good causes, the events give workers an excuse to get to know their colleagues. At last week’s hot dog roast and raffle, dozens of employees streamed in and out of a room where 16 raffle packages were on display. They talked and joked while examining prizes. Gift certificates for Salvatore’s Italian Gardens restaurant and dessert at Aléthea’s Chocolates attracted much attention. A basket containing the Bisons bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, peanuts and tickets to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was another popular pick.

“It’s a great way to raise money and to get people to interact with each other,” says Sheena Porter, a consultant on UB’s Student Systems Transformation project, who entered most of 15 raffle tickets she bought into a drawing for a jar stuffed with snacks.

“You really do need to give back in some way, and this is a fun way of doing it,” says Mary-Camille Schwindler, assistant registrar and chair of the Student Academic Records and Financial Services committee. “We occasionally have had people who have said, ‘Oh, the fund-raising drive. Not that again.’ Mumble, mumble, mumble. But they love the hot dog roast and the basket raffle.”

UB’s 2009 Employee Campaign for the Community officially kicks off in September.