Eller Make a Difference Day in a Different Way

On Friday, October 23 the undergraduate department in the Eller College of Management held its annual Eller Make a Difference Day—a two-day event where Eller students partner with United Way in a series of volunteer opportunities throughout the community.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the activities had to be arranged to follow safety guidelines—but this didn’t keep Eller Make a Difference Day from being as successful as it has in previous years. The event brought together nearly 500 volunteers, separated into groups of no more than 10 people.

Typically, one of the opportunities that volunteers have is to go to Tucson High and Write Elementary to speak with students or help them with arts and crafts.

This year, volunteers joined Zoom calls where they were able to have panel discussions with the high school students, and elementary students joined online engagements where other students could write letters to first responders and members of the senior living community.

The kindness chalk mob stayed true to previous years with participants going around the University of Arizona campus and into surrounding neighborhoods to write positive messages on sidewalks.  

This year’s messages were especially positive and included phrases such as “The best is yet to come” and “We’re in this together.”

Other volunteer opportunities that were available were gardening projects and helping the Humane Society prepare for their upcoming Halloween events.