On Dec. 1, California State University, Northridge students, faculty and staff got together to give back to the surrounding community during Giving Tuesday, the nationwide movement created to combat the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Members of the campus community brought in food and clothing between noon and 5 p.m., to tables staffed by student-athletes on CSUN’s baseball team. This was the second year CSUN held a Giving Tuesday event on campus.

The event brought together external and internal groups whose purpose aligns with Giving Tuesday’s — helping people one by one. They include:

• MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity): MEND is a group whose mission is to break the bonds of poverty by providing basic human needs and a pathway to self-reliance. The organization won the 2012 award for California Nonprofit of the Year from the Governor’s Awards for Volunteering and Service.

• San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission: Established in an effort to serve the homeless in the Valley, the history of the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission spans more than 40 years.

• Unified We Serve: UWS is a volunteer program hosted at CSUN’s Matador Involvement Center that empowers students to further their educations through serving the community.

On Giving Tuesday, these groups collected more than 100 cans of food and hundreds of pieces of clothing for area families in need. These donations will be handed out during the holiday season, which is one of the busiest for service organizations. However, representatives from the groups noted that the need doesn’t end with the calendar year.

“Our goal is that families not only find stable housing, but also move forward and thrive,” said Audrey Cocar, community relations coordinator for the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission. “We would be unable to do this important work without the support of service-minded organizations such as CSUN.”

Along with the Rescue Mission, MEND and Unified We Serve, CSUN’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics did its part by donating the space outside the Matadome to collect donations, as well as helping with the collections themselves. For the second straight year, members of the baseball team volunteered their time and manned the donation table for the entire afternoon. For the student-athletes, helping the community is as important as learning to hit and throw, said Baseball Head Coach Greg Moore.

“I was happy that the young men on our team had the opportunity to take part in Giving Tuesday,” Moore said. “This time of year, it’s great to give back, especially to our community surrounding CSUN. It makes me proud that these student-athletes can play a part in helping local families who are struggling to have a happy holiday season.”

For more information about how you can give after Giving Tuesday, visit www.csun.edu/givingtuesday.

Giving Tuesday