For the Blugold Dining staff on campus, there is a way to give money to a cause that could possibly change a life, give a puppy a home or give clothes to the less fortunate.
The way to do this is to donate $1 (or $3 depending on your job title) on Fridays to be able to wear jeans to work on that day. The program is called Jeans Day for Charity. Blugold Dining takes the money donated and gives it to a charity that catches their eye.
“The money we gave to the Humane Society went to getting a dog spayed,” Blugold Dining office staff Sherry Kotecki said. “The dog was able to be adopted because of our donation.”
They’ve also donated money to Adopt-A-Family, Refugee House, Feed My People food bank and St. Jude’s hospital, with St. Jude’s being the most recent recipient.
The donations received from each staff member varies. The 10 managers that work on campus must pay $3 to wear jeans on Fridays whereas the 125 regular full time employees need only pay $1.
Retail Manager Laura Karker says she doesn’t mind giving the three extra dollars for Jeans Day.
“Anything to wear jeans,” Karker said. “It goes for a good cause too, and it definitely doesn’t bother me giving money to such a great cause.”
Because of the fact that student workers in Blugold Dining are mostly part-time workers, they are not issued a full work uniform. For this reason, most student workers, including senior Kyoko Takashima, do not participate in Jeans Day.
“I don’t really know about Jeans Day,” Takashima said. “I can wear jeans every time I come to work so I don’t have to give a dollar to wear jeans on Fridays.”
General Manager Christian Wise says that the lack of part-time employees’ uniforms is the reason for the lack of student participation for this program.
“I don’t think a student has ever contributed to the fund, but if a student wanted to I’m sure we wouldn’t shun them away,” Wise said.
The donations accumulate for up for three or four months, and then the Dining Club donates the money to a charity, foundation or other place that money is needed, Wise said.
The initial idea for Jeans Day came from a local newspaper that was doing a similar thing back when Jeans Day started in October of 2010, said Chuck Schwie, a Blugold Dining staff member.
“The Leader-Telegram actually started something similar to our Jeans Day so we decided to jump on,” Schwie said. “But then they stopped doing their contribution so Christian said we should start up our own.”
Jeans Day’s most recent donation went to St. Jude’s hospital in the amount of $1,050 through a campaign with local radio stations to help combat against children’s cancer.
