The CAMB Student Newsletter is about more than celebrating the scientific accomplishments of our students – we are about uniting the CAMB community. On Friday, March 17, we hosted the first “Pie a PI” fundraiser to raise money for a local charity while having some fun with CAMB faculty. Students, faculty, postdocs, and staff bought $1 raffle tickets for the opportunity to put a whipped cream pie in the face of Craig Bassing (CB), Mickey Marks (CPM), Steve DiNardo (DSRB), Tom Jongens (GGR), Valder Arruda (GTV), or Matt Weitzman (MVP). Dan Kessler, chair of CAMB, decided to join in the fun, and bought each first-year CAMB student a raffle ticket for a separate competition to pie him.
The CAMB Student Newsletter team wanted to choose an impactful local charity to support in this inaugural event. Ultimately, we decided on the Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CFSP http://www.csfphiladelphia.org/) because it supports education and was given a perfect score by Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org).
CSFP is a privately-funded program that grants approximately 2,000 need-based scholarships to K-8th grade children from low-income families in Philadelphia. These scholarships are awarded by a random lottery each year and support students for up to 4 years. CFSP currently serves about 5,300 children enrolled at over 160 private and parochial schools. According to Charity Navigator metrics, CFSP is more financially healthy, accountable, and transparent than other organizations that support similar causes.
Through the generosity of approximately 100 participants and a surprise donation from the faculty volunteers, we raised $500 for CSFP! The funds raised by the CAMB community will help CFSP operate and provide a vital and meaningful service to Philadelphia’s youth. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success. We sincerely hope that this becomes a recurring tradition!