Briefly Noted

Issue Date: 
June 21, 2010

Pitt Completes Successful Partnership for Food Drive

The University of Pittsburgh’s April 2010 Pitt Partnership for Food drive collected a total of 523,942 units of food for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, joining UPMC and U.S. Steel as one of the top three corporate food drives in the area.

The contributions were made in a variety of ways, said Steve Zupcic, Pitt’s assistant director for community relations, including drop-off donations of canned goods and other nonperishable items in large boxes located across the Pittsburgh campus. Pitt faculty, staff, and employees also contributed online at www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/pitt by purchasing food to be sent directly to the Food Bank. In addition, a number of student organizations competed to collect food donations, and Sodexho, contractual provider of Pitt’s dining services, offered catered pizza parties as prizes. Finally, Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg’s office matched the value of all donations through the Chancellor’s Challenge.

“Pitt has been doing the food drive for almost 20 years, and it has been building up to what it’s become today,” Zupcic said.

While the food drive is over, donations to the Food Bank can be made year-round via the online shopping link www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/pitt.

Pitt Employees Encouraged to “Adopt” a Soldier

The second Pitt Employee Adopt-a-Soldier (PEAS) Project is under way, with organizers seeking to deliver care packages to adopted soldiers by July 4.

The PEAS Project was launched in 2007, and more than 200 Pitt employees have shipped hundreds of care packages filled with books, cookies, magazines, and basic supplies to 147 men and women serving overseas.

Employees interested in participating can enlist as a PEAS donor at www.pitt.edu/~soldier. Upon registering, participants will be matched with a soldier and receive instructions regarding preparation of the package. Donors will be responsible for purchasing care package items and assembling and mailing the packages at a flat rate of $12.50. Flat-rate boxes and customs forms are available in the Pitt Alumni Association office, 140 Alumni Hall.

Pitt employees also may enroll close friends or relatives who are serving overseas by registering their names and mailing addresses online at www.pitt.edu/~soldier. Once registered, soldiers will be matched with PEAS donors.

Pitt Alumni Association staff member Mara Kudrick, whose brother is serving his second tour overseas, began the PEAS project.

—By Shannon Scannell