With classes moving remote during the middle of the semester, the Spring 2020 External Engagement team had to readjust their plans for a spring donation drive. This drive has become a class tradition each semester, giving students a taste of raising funds in addition to giving them away. The Fall 2019 External Engagement team piloted an online donation drive, and the Spring 2020 followed their lead given the new circumstances.
Wanting to respond to the pandemic, the team identified four local nonprofit organizations that were actively engaged in serving those affected by COVID-19. Through online voting, the class selected the recipient of the drive, Center for People in Need. Working with the Center’s Marketing & Communications Director, Eileen Chalupa, the Strive to Feed Lincoln fundraiser was born.
Over the next few weeks, the online drive raised $1,635, which the center said would feed 327 individuals for an entire month. CFPIN Executive Director Chris Funk commented, “Seeing these students open their hearts and wallets to benefit Lincoln’s low-income families, even as they finished their class remotely, and in some cases from another state, was inspiring.”
When the economic impact of COVID-19 hit Lincoln, the Center for People in Need was one of the first local organizations to mobilize resources for those affected. They saw the numbers of families seeking assistance increase quickly, especially families who were new to the center.
They offered a distribution drive-thru that served over 650 families in the first week alone. That number grew to over 1,200 families a week. In the drive-thru, families were able to obtain diapers as well as pre-bagged food.