The Final Funding Push

By Jen Adachi

This week the SAR Resilience Team worked hard to prepare for their upcoming TGIF hearing. As explained in previous blog posts, the Resilience Team is trying to secure funding to install seven rainwater capture cisterns in parking lot 9. Since the project is so large-scale, it requires LOTS of money — which is not the easiest thing to ask for. But the team has been working so hard for so long and with so many influential people, and their project is important and well thought out. As they went over opening and closing statements, talking points, data, budgets, and technical details, I could feel their dedication and determination to convince the TGIF allocation committee why their project deserves the funds it needs.

During the meeting I could see that the team members were full of many emotions — stress, excitement, optimism, and concern. As team leader Manali McCarthy explained, “This is what we’ve been working towards since the beginning of winter quarter”.

Fingers crossed for their hearing!

At the team meeting, they also began discussing more details about the UCLA Spark Campaign, an additional funding option that relies on crowd funding. Even though a Spark Campaign account could bring in over $10,000 in the long run, it would require lots of work and time (including creating videos and blasting social media). The team decided to focus on TGIF for now and come back to the Spark Campaign discussion a little later in the quarter.

The Resilience Team is up to lots of exciting things and we are excited to hear how the hearing goes!