California Lutheran Universityโs Cares Day is an annual fundraising event which helps to support critical initiatives campus wide. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to promote the importance of Cares Day, as the money raised directly affects the programs, scholarship funds, according to Cal Lutheran Cares Day website.
According to Regina Biddings-Muro, vice president of university advancement, Cal Lutheran Cares Day originated during the early days of the pandemic.
โWe had a giving day, but it became Cal Lutheran Cares Day, actually the year of the global pandemic. We were deep in our planning for Giving Day, and we were concerned that perhaps we might cancel it because in a pandemic, โฆ fundraising can be challenging at any time,โ Biddings-Muro said.
Cal Lutheran opted to alter the event and rebrand it as โCares Dayโ in order to emphasize the importance of community support during a difficult time, according to Biddings-Muro.
โWe did the name change and sort of turned around the emphasis and focused on helping through the pandemic,โ Biddings-Muro said. โAs a result, we did very, very well. People did want to help.โ
Fast forward five years, the university has maintained its focus on community and connection when it comes to Cares Day, Biddings-Muro said.
โIt really is about how you are a part of Cal Lutheran, whether you are a student, a parent, an alumni, a member of the broader community, a donor,โ Biddings-Muro said. โIt really is an opportunity to lift up a fantastic university and say why we care about it.โ
Biddings-Muro said Cares Day greatly aids in the funding of the hundreds of scholarships that are offered by the university.
She referenced the Cal Lutheran website, which features an extensive list of scholarship options, including emergency support funds, the Final Stretch Scholarship, and the Violet and Gold Scholarship.
Howard Davis, director of athletics at Cal Lutheran, said Cares Day โallows us to provide. It really enhances the student-athlete experience here. The coaches do a great job working hard, and the student-athletes do too.โ
According to Davis, the money raised by Cares Day supports team travel, equipment purchases, and other experiences that might not otherwise be possible.
โThe college just canโt support all the travel we do,โ Davis said. โIn order to travel to playโ travel experience is one of the most memorable things about being a student-athleteโ it allows us to take additional trips or longer trips.โ
Davis said Cares Day demonstrates the deep relationship between athletes, alumni, and the overall university community and that many coaches even have newsletters that keep alumni in the loop about the happenings within the programs.
โThe alumni are critical. For them, itโs a way for them to pay back for what they got at Cal Lu, and itโs a great way to stay connected to the college, to stay connected to their sport program that they participated in,โ Davis said.
Brett Halvaks, head cross country and track and field coach, said that Cares Day has benefited his programs, making it possible to purchase new equipment and gear.
โIt really helps us every year with our giving and fundraising to help do more team travel,โ Halvaks said. โThis past fall, from previous Cares Day, we were able to help fund our regional trip up to outside of Portland, Oregon with our cross-country team.โ
According to Halvaks, he and other coaching staff set fundraising goals each year, aiming to grow their total from the previous year. Halvaks said that, last year, his programs raised just shy of $12,000, and are hoping to reach $13,000 this year.
Halvaks said he encourages his student-athletes to share information about Cares Day via social media, as they play a critical role in the promotion of Cares Day and garnering support..
Biddings-Muro said the School of Management also looked to engage with possible donors on social media, as students created a video series entitled โThe Faces of Cal Lutheran.โ
โThe student ambassadors really picked up on the theme of re-bridging the past, present, and future. In each of the videos, thereโs a student explaining why they love Cal Lutheran,โ Biddings-Muro said.
Cares Day does not represent the extent of Cal Lutheranโs fundraising efforts, according to Biddings-Muro. She said that the prioritization of certain initiatives for Cares Day involves establishing a balance of university needs with donor interests.
โItโs a match between what the priorities might be at that time and what do we believe donors will come to,โ Biddings-Muro said. โJust because we want the money, donors in 2025 โฆ are very sophisticated, and they want to choose the kind of impact that they want to have that aligns with their values.โ
