This week, Connecting Alumni To Students will start their Pay It Forward project, where gift cards will be handed out to students at random to cover their purchases at places such as Biscotti’s and the 23rd Street Market.

According to Connie Hansen, advisor of CATS, schools across the nation typically dedicate one day of the year to educate their students about philanthropy. Here at the University of Northern Iowa, CATS is using the whole month of February to spread the message of generosity. 

The goal for this project is to motivate the students on campus to also give back for one day, as UNI alumni do currently.

“We understand that they’re students, but we want to make them fully aware that if the people didn’t graduate and then give back to the institution, there are so many different things we wouldn’t have here at UNI.”

Hansen noted that the donation money goes towards purposes such as scholarships, university facilities, and even the Youth Collection in the Rod Library.  

CATS will also be hosting an event entitled, “Love a Donor”, on Wednesday and Thursday in the Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  During this time, students will have the opportunity to give back by writing thank-you cards to those who have donated to the university.  Hansen said the group hopes to send out over 1,000 cards. 

Currently, CATS is finishing up a project where they have been calling Alumni Association members, thanking them for their continued support and giving back to the University. 

“We [the university] couldn’t function without those generous gifts,” Hansen said. 

Hansen also stated that the donations from UNI alumni allow the university to become cutting edge; moving the academic, athletic, and fine arts areas forward. 

This month CATS hopes to reach out to the students, reminding them that UNI is a great place to receive an education, and that is partly because of the people that give back and support the university. CATS hopes that by hosting this event, current students will one day do the same.