Penn State University: Penn State returns alongside Big Ten institutions for second annual One Big Week
Penn State will once again join its Big Ten institutional partners for One Big Week, an event that challenges university communities to channel school pride into student support.
From midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 31, through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, Penn State alumni and friends can participate by making a gift to the Tackle Student Hunger Fund, a resource that provides support to food pantries at every Penn State campus.
As food insecurity on campuses continues to draw national attention, gifts made during One Big Week will help to advance Penn State’s ongoing investment in addressing student hunger. Earlier this year, the University received recommendations from the Student Advisory Board on Student Poverty, the latest in an ongoing series of actions driven by the University Food and Housing Security Task Force formed in 2020.
“It’s easy to think that everyone has a similar college experience,” said Taylor Dorsett, president of The Lion’s Pantry at University Park. “The reality is that there are students who are rationing their meals or skipping meals so that they have money for other things. That isn’t OK with me. Support from the University community is helping to change the story and establish a culture of caring so that we can let our students know we’re here to help.”
One Big Week is the second Big Ten fundraising matchup of its kind at the University. Last year, Penn State topped its Big Ten peers during the inaugural One Big Week, raising $214,000 from more than 2,900 gifts to support student emergency funds across the commonwealth — figures that accounted for half of the total gifts and more than a third of the total dollars collectively raised by the Big Ten.
Tapping into the competitive spirit of the Nittany Lions, this year’s One Big Week will include a special kickoff challenge between Penn State and Purdue. Culminating at midnight on Sept. 1 — after the Nittany Lions face the Boilermakers in the opening game of the football season — the two universities will go head-to-head to see which school can raise the most support in the first 48 hours of One Big Week.
“The chance to start our fall season with a double win over the Boilermakers is hard to resist,” said Rich Bundy, vice president for development and alumni relations at Penn State. “But most importantly, when our community needs help, Penn Staters step up to the challenge. The generosity of alumni and friends has already been an essential part of our ability to address student hunger, and every gift made during One Big Week will further advance our success in tackling this urgent and complex problem.”
More information about One Big Week can be found at onebigweek.psu.edu and supporters can follow along with event updates by RSVPing to the One Big Week Facebook event. Starting Aug. 31, gifts can be made through the event website, and collective Big Ten fundraising progress will be updated across the week at onebigweek.com. Information and updates will be available across Penn State’s digital platforms, including Raise Penn State on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Penn State alumni and friends are encouraged to share information about the challenge with their personal networks.
With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy is helping to sustain the University’s tradition of education, research and service to communities across the commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable our institution to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows our students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help us to serve and impact the world we share.