By Debbie Accomazzo
University Relations Manager
Today is Arizona Gives Day, and GCU Today's "Partners in Purpose" has curated a few COVID-19 friendly ideas for participating in this statewide movement. Also, be sure to share the ways your family chooses to give back. Partners in Purpose would be happy to celebrate your unique ways of spreading sunshine.
- School Connect unites, “one community, one family, one city”: Former GCU employee and Executive Director of City Serve AZ Billy Thrall said it best in a video he recorded on behalf of GCU partner School Connect. An organization that empowers children by connecting schools to their community, School Connect believes every child should have someone who can help them unlock their potential. School Connect mobilized immediately when school closures were announced. The organization is standing in the gap on behalf of Arizona students and has invited GCU and GCE faculty and staff to create 30-second videos to bring connection, inspiration and offer words of encouragement. Be sure to use your phone in horizontal mode (#okboomer), and don’t forget your Lopes Up! You can email your video to GCU University Relations Manager Debbie Accomazzo or upload to your own social media pages. Be sure to tag @SchoolConnectAZ and use the hashtags #AZGivesDay and #GCUheartofPHX. Website
- Little Free Librarians: Southwest Human Development is providing a unique way for Lopes to give back in their own communities and at their own pace . More than 200 Little Free Libraries can be found throughout Arizona, and volunteers are needed to help check out these community book stations and report back about their condition. Find all the details, and sign up here. Website
- (Purple) hearts for cancer-fighting superheroes: At Children’s Cancer Network, every day is about hope, and for Arizona Gives Day, CCN has invited us to join the organization in creating (purple) hearts to share messages of love, hope and gratitude for Arizona’s community of hospital workers and health care providers. We know our Lopes are creative, so put that artistic energy to work to support the professionals who hustle every day to care for our youngest cancer-fighting superheroes. Mail your (purple) hearts to 6150 W. Chandler Blvd., Suite 1, Chandler, AZ, 85226, and CCN will display them on the nonprofit's office windows -- there’s 17 of them! -- and on its social media pages. Website
