Message from Campus Leaders

Dear Friends,

UC Riverside has a long tradition of serving and giving back to our region. We do this as a campus, through a variety of research and service activities, and as individuals, by giving generously of our time, talent, and treasure. This has been a year of unprecedented challenges, and our friends and neighbors need our help. We write to invite you to become involved.

Over the past 78 years, the United Way of the Inland Valleys has made invaluable contributions to health and human service agencies in our region. Indeed, members of our own UCR family have benefited directly and indirectly from the services of member agencies. Inland Southern California has been hit especially hard by the recent downturn in the economy and the 46 local agencies and 98 local programs that receive funding from the United Way could truly use our help this year.

We are proud of UCR’s own deep history of bettering lives across Southern California. The Guardian Scholars program provides scholarships to UCR students who are emancipating from the foster care system and have little social, emotional or material support. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute offers a stimulating learning experience at modest cost that enriches the intellectual, social, and cultural lives of people over the age of 50. The Community Garden, a UCR student-led partnership with the Salvation Army, provides fresh, nutritious produce grown on UCR land to a local food bank. The UCR School of Medicine will serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians in collaboration with area hospitals and regional clinics. If you would like to support these or other UCR activities that enrich our community and region, visit www.ucr.edu/giving/ and click the the Give Now! link.

Finally, we know that the economy has had profound financial impact on many of your lives. If you can’t give money, please consider a gift of time. Volunteering for one of the Inland Empire’s many worthy nonprofit organizations can be a rich source of fulfillment for you and essential support for others, especially at this time of year. For more information about volunteering, go to community.ucr.edu/volunteer.html.

Please join us in keeping the safety net strong and improving lives across inland Southern California. Now, more than ever, we can make a difference together.

Warmest wishes for a healthy and peaceful fall.

Sincerely,

Tim P. White                          Anthony Norman                                 Veronica Ruiz
  Chancellor                       Chair, Academic Senate                   President, Staff Assembly