Giving Tuesday gets a boost from Otters helping Otters

By Mark Muckenfuss

Cal State Monterey Bay’s Robyn DoCanto wants to get rid of an old romanticized notion. 

“We used to wear ‘starving college student’ like it was a badge of honor,” said DoCanto, coordinator for OtterCare, the campus’ support program for students in need. “It’s not. We’re letting people know that asking for help is a sign of strength.”

Part of that is a current campaign encouraging students who have unused “swipes,” or credits, on their meal plans to donate them to fellow Otters who might not otherwise get a hot meal. That campaign, which began Nov. 9 and runs through Nov. 18, is part of a larger effort to encourage the community to support OtterCare on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Organizers are hoping to raise $10,000, enough for 830 meals. It won’t be enough to Feed Each Otter – the slogan of the campaign – but it will put a significant dent in meeting the needs of hungry students. 

DoCanto and Amy Zamara, director for OtterCare, hope to get 150 students to donate meal swipes. That will give Jessica Ruiz, CSUMB’s director of development, a way to provide an incentive for community giving. 

“The idea is, as we continue to develop the culture of philanthropy, we can say, ‘We have 150 students who are so caring that they donated to feed others,’” Ruiz said. “We want to focus on matching that number of donors in the community.”

The campus community is well on its way to doing its part. More than 50 students donated swipes on the first day of the campaign. That’s good, Zamara said, as the need grows each year. Upwards of 2,000 students benefit each week from the food, clothing and other goods the Hub, a campus-based pantry, supplies. In addition to making such goods available, OtterCare also provides other support, such as one-on-one care coordination, emergency funds and resources such as parking vouchers or farmer’s market vouchers for students in need. 

“Our numbers continue to increase,” Zamara said, noting that the 1,000 student referrals received so far this year is already substantially ahead of last year's counts.

Some recent community grants and money from student fees have allowed them to stay ahead of the curve. 

“So far this year, we’ve purchased over 1,500 meal swipes,” she said. “That’s way more than we gave out for the whole year last year. But it’s not something we can do sustainably.”

Which makes Giving Tuesday of great importance. Zamara says she wants to be able to continue to send the same message to students who need support but may be hesitant to ask. 

“Please, please come,” she said.