Can PUC pass last year's number of stuffed animals collected?? How many will it be in 2011?? Could it be 1,000??

All the folks who participated last year would tell you that they saw how much impact they could make, all while having a little competitive fun!  You see, each NEW stuffed animal will get into the hands of a Northwest Indiana grade school student who may be in crisis or who may need some help with raising their reading scores.  This program, established by the United Way here in Northwest Indiana, supports the educational efforts of our local schools and has made a wonderful impact with youngsters from our region.

For example, many of the stuffed animals help in counseling settings to help students get through a tough time in their life — it becomes their “HUG Buddy!”  Many others become “Reading Buddies.”  Many NW Indiana schools have attributed much of the success they’re having with raising reading scores to the Reading Buddy Program!

So, won’t you consider helping this year?  CLICK HERE to sign up you or your team!

What happens when you take more than 100 Purdue University Calumet students and staff, and you send them into the NW Indiana community as a volunteer force?

Here are some of the things that happened on Sept. 17, 2010:

• Window washing at the Roberto Clemente Community Center — East Chicago
• Painting at the Boys and Girls Clubs — Hammond and East Chicago
• Web site development and filing at the Woodland Child Development Center — Hammond
• Conducting surveys at the Assoc. for Wolf Lake Initiative — Hammond
• Hosting recess for bunches of kids at Lafayette Elem. School — Hammond
• And, a whole lot more!!

Thanks to everyone who was involved!  It was a great day because of so many great people!

Thanks to all students, staff and faculty who participated in the inaugural I NEED A HUG stuffed animal drive at Purdue Calumet.  It was a huge success with 761 new stuffed animals being collected.  The stuffed animals will be used at Lake and Porter County IN elementary schools to help kids in crisis and needing counseling, and as “Reading Buddies,” which has contributed to reading scores improving dramatically at some participating schools.

Purdue Calumet gave plaques to teams who collected the most stuffed animals in three categories:  academic course, University Village, and student organization.  Plaques were awarded to:

• Students of Prof. Rachel Smith’s Leadership Course — 279 stuffed animals collected
• University Village — 237 stuffed animals collected
• College Mentors for Kids — 77 stuffed animals collected
• Los Latinos — 60 stuffed animals collected

Drop off NEW stuffed animals in SUL 349, SUL 104, or LAWS 352 during the week of Feb. 8-11, 2010.  Also, plan to attend the I NEED A HUG Celebration and Count Off on Thursday, Feb. 11 at noon in Calumet Falls, located in PUC’s Student Union & Library Building.  Student organizations and other student teams will be bringing their stuffed animals that day and plaques will be awarded for three categories for bringing in the most NEW stuffed animals: student organization team, University Village team, and academic course team.