CIO Division Partners with UACares for Community Service Projects

This fall, the CIO Division is sponsoring two community service initiatives that allows staff to pay it forward in Southern Arizona. In collaboration with UA Cares, volunteers from the CIO Division will work on a playground beautification project with Laguna Elementary School, as well as sponsoring a Red Cross blood drive. This is the first time the CIO Division is organizing volunteer events to serve the greater Tucson community on behalf of the University of Arizona.

On Friday, October 21, division volunteers will lend a helping hand at Laguna Elementary to improve children’s learning environment. The aging school campus is over 50 years old, with little community resources to help the school. Volunteers will work throughout the day, helping the school beautify the grounds and bike trails by planting trees, cleaning the grounds, and landscaping. The College of Education will also be joining the CIO Division in this effort.

Giving blood is a lifesaving power we all have that is easy to share, which is why the CIO Division is sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Drive on October 25 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Student Union North Ballroom. Giving blood can save up to three lives in the 45 minutes it takes to donate, and it’s easy to register to become a blood donor.

The sponsored events give staff the chance to connect with their colleagues outside of work for some fun, in-person team building in support of a good cause.

This year, the UA Cares office added a strong emphasis on community service to the yearly workplace giving campaign. These common interests, strong support from division leadership, and close partnership with the UA Cares office, ultimately led to select two community service projects.

Nelly Zapata and Shama Sinari, the CIO Division’s UACares ambassadors, looked for ideas on how to promote the UACares campaign efficiently given the division’s various work modalities — Ideas that could work as fundraisers as well as team building opportunities for the division. "These are win-win projects,” said Zapata. “They support the University’s giving campaign and provide employees with the opportunity to come together to serve our community.”