MEDIA ADVISORY
EPIC drive to benefit needy families locally
Cal State L.A. delivers holiday joy via toys, food, socks
Los Angeles, CA – In its traditional holiday spirit of giving, the Educational Participation in the Communities (EPIC) program at Cal State L.A. is now collecting donations of new and gently-used toys and non-perishable food from the University’s students and employees through Dec. 10.
The EPIC’s 39th Annual Holiday Toy and Food Drive will provide gifts to more than 60 local families in coordination with 13 non-profit community agencies in the greater Los Angeles area. Last year, the program collected about $13,445 worth of toys and food, which were delivered to 206 kids and 113 adults.
Additionally, this year EPIC—in collaboration with the University’s Golden Eagle Vets student organization—is collecting socks to donate to the East Los Angeles Vet Center in the city of Commerce.
EPIC, created in 1966, promotes volunteer community service by university students and creates opportunities for them to implement classroom theory in real-life situations that are beneficial to communities. Along with its annual holiday drive, it also provides youth employment training, mentoring for schoolchildren, and, through America Reads and Counts, support for literacy and mathematics education.
For more about EPIC or to donate to its holiday drive, call (323) 343-3380 or visit www.calstatela.edu/univ/stuaffrs/epic.
Note to editors and news directors:
Photo and interview opportunities with more than 30 “Santa’s helpers” at work will be available on the CSULA campus (See schedule below). Call the EPIC Office in advance at (323) 343-3380 to arrange photo sessions.
- Monday, December 13
Pick up donation boxes from offices and departments throughout campus
- Tuesday and Wednesday, December 14-15, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sort toys and foods and pack up boxes for families (Physical Education building, room 123)
- Tuesday, Dec. 14
Shop for additional toys and food from monetary donations
- Wednesday and Thursday, December 15-16
Some agencies will pick up donations; others will be delivered
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 215,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu