PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 22, No. 6, Sept. 19, 2002

2002 Campus Charitable Fund Drive Insert:
U&I Partners for a Caring Community

UI employees make a difference at home and around the world
A common adversary can unify and empower those whose lives it touches, as cancer did for staff in the College of Veterinary Medicine. When Dee Bergman’s mother, a co-worker and another employee’s spouse all were stricken with breast cancer, Bergman and her office-mates mobilized to help others fight the disease. During the past two years, these caring employees and their family members have walked mile upon mile during an annual fund-raiser that celebrates survivorship and supports cancer programs and research.

Likewise, Karen Carney, Office of Continuing Education, reaches out to assist others facing challenges similar to those she’s known in her own life by giving to charities supported by the Campus Charitable Fund Drive.

"I give . . . because I have two small children and so know firsthand how challenging parenting can be even for those who have very stable life circumstances," Carney said. "[Also] nearly every family, including my own, has someone dealing with some form of mental illness – clinical depression, schizophrenia, mood disorders, dementia … and people need to have a place where they can go for information and help."

Charitable organizations such as those supported by the campaign rely upon individuals to provide the majority of the resources they need – both in terms of helping hands and desperately needed funds. Without the volunteers and donors, many of the programs and services these organizations provide would not be possible.

University of Illinois employees’ contributions to the hundreds of organizations supported by the CCFD enable agencies close to home and around the world to fight myriad social problems, such as disease, poverty, homelessness and racism. By generously sharing their time and money, Illinois employees enrich the lives of others through job-readiness training, educational opportunities, constructive leisure activities and preservation of natural resources.

Everyone, from the very youngest to the very oldest, benefits from programs made possible by these agencies. Illinois employees’ contributions, no matter how small, form the stepping-stones to a positive future.

During the turbulence the world has faced throughout the past year, neighborliness and public spiritedness have been tested time and again. Despite those challenges, UI employees have demonstrated that community spirit and humanitarianism still thrive.

As in past years’ campaigns, contributions during the 2001 campaign exceeded the Campus Charitable Fund Drive’s highest-ever goal of $950,000.

Illinois employees now have the opportunity to put their voices into action and support causes they care about by helping the campaign meet its 2002 campaign goal of $1 million.

Those who generously support causes of their choice through gifts of time and money say that enriching the lives of others adds substance to their own.

"I support the Campus Charitable Fund Drive for many reasons, but mainly because it is ‘extremely beneficial’ to so many individuals who are not as fortunate. I truly believe that whatever we give, whether it be time or money will be returned double-fold to us," said Carol Caron, Operation and Maintenance.

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