Giving and Receiving: SCI-Arc’s Charitable Outreach and Fundraising Initiatives

As the holiday season approaches, SCI-Arc’s Annual Fund is focused on raising revenue for the school, while the Student Union (STUN) is undertaking initiatives that will benefit students as well as the homeless community of nearby Skid Row.

This fall SCI-Arc will join organizations worldwide for the annual #GivingTuesday celebration on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving—November 28. Kicking off the season of charitable donations and year-end contributions, this global day of giving is fueled by the power of social media. Throughout the month of November, SCI-Arc will use its various platforms to invite architecture enthusiasts around the world to support the school and enrich its culture of imagination, transformation, resilience, and tenacity in its approach to architectural pedagogy.

To support the next generation of leading architects by donating to SCI-Arc through Giving Tuesday visit this webpage.

Revenue generated by the SCI-Arc Annual Fund supports the school’s operating budget, including facilities and equipment, faculty development, materials and resources, and academic programming, as well as scholarships and other needs. Annual Fund donors can make unrestricted gifts or direct them to a specific area of interest.

For the second year STUN will host the One for One charity event benefiting the homeless community of Skid Row. Students will assemble care packages—a total of 500, one for every student—and distribute them to those in need. According to STUN president Abagael Warnars (M.Arch 1 ’18), the packages will contain necessities such as hand sanitizer, condoms, and sanitary napkins, as well as bottles of water and food that is healthy yet portable, including turkey or cheese sandwiches, granola bars, and apples and oranges. Students will assemble the nonperishable items on Giving Tuesday and, on the following Saturday, December 2, they will prepare the perishable items and distribute the packages.

On Saturday, November 4, SCI-Arc students volunteered with Art Beyond Borders, a program hosted by Inner-City Arts that was led by Panamanian artist Olga Sinclair. More than 450 children participated in the painting workshop. Additionally, STUN will host an annual Thanksgiving dinner for the entire school on November 22, which will feature a yet-to-be-announced speaker.

Other current and future STUN initiatives include running the concession stand at the newly established SCI-Arc Cinema Series. All proceeds from the concessions will be donated to the Skid Row Housing Trust. STUN also facilitates yoga classes for students every other Sunday and hosts Fridays at Five, a monthly event that invites students to socialize and relax. A recent Friday at Five had a BBQ theme, featuring a bounce house, cornhole, ladderball, basketball, music, popcorn, and burgers and hotdogs.