Purdue University was and still is the home to many Northwest Indiana residents. For those who have graduated from the university and still hold that love for the PNW Pride, your day to shout it out is coming. April 26 is the Purdue Day of Giving, an annual University-wide effort to build a better, stronger, more affordable Purdue!
For 24 hours, students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends will come together to grant opportunities and transform lives. The day will include challenges and interactive games and leaderboards, all as a way for participants to push their favorite campus, college, school, program, and student organization to the top.
The day is more than just showing your love for the school; it is a way to give back to that certain program, organization, campus, etc. that helped you get where you are today. The Day of Giving is your way to give back to the school while having fun reminiscing about all that other fun you used to have at the “library.”
During the day, hourly online challenges will be available to help make your personal gift go further. Compete against other Purdue fans and win bonus dollars for your school. One of the challenges that already started is super easy: just show the school your Boiler Up spirit with a video or photo and upload to a social media site!
Social media will be blasted by Purdue fans from midnight to midnight. The Purdue Day of Giving Facebook Event Page will be constantly uploaded with photos, videos, and too many likes, shares, and comments to keep track of! The Purdue University Twitter feed, at @LifeAtPurdue will be tweeting every second, keeping up with the black and gold flying through the screen.
Upload your activity with the hashtag #PurdueDayofGiving or #PNWDayofGiving and see what your fellow students and alumni are doing to celebrate. Some may be stopping at the campus Starbucks for a black and gold Frappuccino while others are marching through campus, videoing the campus from the sky with their #Purduedroneclub drones! Others are already engaged in a scavenger hunt throughout campus.
Clubs, sororities, fraternities, and those in business suits now at work in the office are all coming together to celebrate in some way for the special day. And these are just a few of the long list of Day of Giving 2017 Participants.
Sam Lubeznik and his father, Glenn, owners of the McDonald's in Michigan City are personally participating in the Day of Giving. Even though they are working that day, the two are donating a significant amount of equipment to the engineering department.
"We hope new students and new minds get hands-on learning," Sam said. "With real equipment and working in real life situations they can gain a higher level of employment and higher understanding." The McDonald's organization will continue with their annual gift and will be donating $20,000 for scholarships, he added.
As a graduate from the PNW campus, and with several semesters spent in West Lafayette, Sam said he enjoys the Day of Giving and sees it as an excuse to get excited with like-minded people and do some good in the community.
"This is really a great opportunity to celebrate the the learning that takes place here," he said.
Last year, the Day of Giving 2016 raised $18.3 million and received 12,872 gifts from people now living in all 50 states and from all over the world.
To get involved follow these accounts: Purdue University Northwest Alumni Facebook, Purdue Northwest Alumni Organization Twitter, Purdue University Northwest Alumni Instagram, Purdue University Facebook, Purdue University Instagram, Purdue University on Twitter, and find Purdue University on Snapchat!
Don’t forget your hashtags! #PurdueNorthwest, #PNW, #PNWDayofGiving, #PurdueDayofGiving
Yet... the love of Purdue doesn’t end tomorrow night! On Saturday head to the Purdue Northwest Welcome Back Alumni Tailgate. On Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and at 3:30 p.m. the PNW Baseball takes on St. Francis for a double header. The tailgate celebration, BBQ, youth activities and more will be led by the PNW Softball team between games at 12 p.m.! Also, meet LEO the PNW Pride Mascot and the players of the Women’s Softball Team!
