GiveDirectly.org sends cash to poor people – with no strings attached. The nonprofit was co-founded by UC San Diego development economist Paul Niehaus. Called “crazy” by many, Niehaus and his colleagues are being honored by Foreign Policy magazine as “Leading Global Thinkers” of 2013. And a top charity evaluator has just rated GiveDirectly as its No. 1.
Over the past seven years, more than 7,000 sixth graders from 26 schools in San Diego County have visited the Jacobs School of Engineering to build model structures and test them on small shake tables. It’s all part of the Earthquake Engineering with K’NEX Outreach Program run by the UC San Diego chapter of the Society of Civil and Structural Engineers.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday now have a philanthropic counterpart: #GivingTuesday. The national day of giving—currently in its second year—is slated for Dec. 3. UC San Diego is once again participating as an official partner of #GivingTuesday, which encourages charitable giving and celebrates the spirit of philanthropy.
The University of California, San Diego is home to the first and only Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, honoring the vision of “2001: A Space Odyssey” author Arthur C. Clarke. Today, the campus is announcing a $1 million gift from San Diego-based satellite and digital communications innovator ViaSat Inc. that will continue Clarke’s greatest legacy: imagination. In recognition of this charitable donation, ViaSat has been named Founding Partner of the Clarke Center.
On the second Thursday of each month, a group of UC San Diego volunteers meets in the evenings at the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank to help sort through donations and assemble food packages for San Diego community members in need. Vanessa Pool, project manager at the Qualcomm Institute, the UC San Diego division of Calit2, started the UC San Diego Night at the Food Bank in June 2008.
Five UC San Diego undergraduate students who are former foster youth and two junior faculty members were awarded a technology package from Sony Electronics, Inc., as part of a nationwide scholarship program during a reception on Nov. 1. Sony has awarded equipment packages annually for the past five years—a total approximate value of $53,000—to help UC San Diego students and faculty achieve their academic and teaching goals.
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