By James Bennett III
USF St. Petersburg will celebrate Giving Day on April 4. It will be a time for charitable alumni and advocates of the university to show their support and remind each other what they love about the campus.
This year, Giving Day will be used to promote funding for the Help-A-Bull Emergency Aid Program. Three scholarship funds fall under the umbrella of Help-A-Bull: Stay AFLOAT, Feed-A-Bull and the Library Textbook Accessibility fund.
The scholarships are intended to help keep student retention rates at a level that maintains the university’s preeminence.
Help-A-Bull is still in the discussion stages without a formalized program, but USF St. Petersburg’s Marketing and Communications department outlined the purpose of each fund in a press release published Feb. 27.
Stay AFLOAT is intended to help students facing unexpected, short-term financial difficulties that would hinder their ability to continue their education.
Dr. Martin Tadlock, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg, proposed the fund.
“When I was a college student, we were a few days away from the next payday and a fan belt broke on the car,” Tadlock said. “We had no money to replace the belt and needed the car in order to get to class.
“It was the ‘last straw’ in a series of events that left us on the edge of dropping out of college. Fortunately, the shop let us post-date a check, and that one act of kindness let us make it until payday and continue going to class.”
The Feed-A-Bull Fund is intended to help with the operational needs of USF St. Petersburg’s upcoming food pantry.
Student Government President Daniel “Kaeden” Kelso and Senator Gregory Cote proposed the food pantry at the Jan. 28 general assembly meeting. The SG senate unanimously voted in favor of it.
The idea mirrored a program that has existed at USF Tampa since September 2015.
Once the food pantry is open, staff members can notify the Dean of Students’ office about a specific student’s food insecurity. Afterward, Dean Jacob Diaz will reach out to the student in need.
University Advancement plans to give a preview of the food pantry in the Student Life Center from 4 to 6 p.m. on Giving Day and collect donations for the pantry.
The Library Textbook Accessibility Fund will support students who need help gaining access to the textbooks and electronic resources for their classes.
According to the USF Foundation’s website, $34,255 was raised for student success and scholarships at Giving Day’s inaugural celebration last year. The foundation originally set a goal of 300 donors. Once that goal was passed, they raised it to 400. By the end of the event, over 700 people made donations.
