3,182 flex passes were donated, which translates to $3977.50 for Global Giving and the International Medical Corps each, Director of Dining Services Dennis Pierce said. (Olivia Stenger/The Daily Campus)
The University of Connecticut’s Give a Meal program generated nearly $8,000 for hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and earthquake relief for Mexico Wednesday night.
3,182 flex passes were donated, which translates to $3977.50 for Global Giving and the International Medical Corps each, Director of Dining Services Dennis Pierce said.
“I feel like that’s just a small action that could go a long way for someone,” Emily Reid, a third-semester undeclared major who donated a flex pass said.
Reid said that while she has not donated on Give a Meal dates in the past, she would donate again in the future.
Natalie Casanova, a first-semester human rights and political science major, who volunteered at the event byasking students if they would like to donate as they got in line for dinner, said flex passes are a simple way for students to donate to a worthy cause.
“I think flex passes are a really easy thing for people to donate because it’s not tangible money,” Casanova said.
Maheen Tariq, a first-semester physiology and neurobiology major who was also volunteering, said people generally want to help with these relief efforts.
“A lot of people are willing to donate or want to give,” Tariq said.
Jasmine Kunnummel, a fifth-semester mathematics major who donated
“It’s a good cause and I have a lot of flex passes that I don’t use by the end of the semester,” Jasmine Kunnummel, a fifth-semester mathematics major who donated, said.
As of Thursday afternoon, only 36.9 percent of Puerto Rico has power and 83.11 percent of the island has water according to status.pr.
The last known body was recovered from the rubble caused by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico on Oct. 4, which brought the total death toll to 366, according to Fox News.
“Dining Services thanks all who participated in this semester’s event for such a worthy cause,” Pierce said.
Anna Zarra Aldrich is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at anna.aldrich@uconn.edu. She tweets @ZarraAnna.