Cal Poly Students Seeking Backpacks for Prado Day Center

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Need an excuse to dodge the old backpack? Get a new designer bag? Through June 2, Cal Poly students will be collecting new and gently used backpacks for Friends of the Prado Day Center, a local organization serving the homeless of San Luis Obispo.

Many of the people served through Prado Day Center keep all of their belongings with them, as they don’t have a permanent place to call home. To keep their belongings organized and protected from the weather, they often rely on bags and other forms of portable storage. Cal Poly students saw an opportunity to recycle soon-to-be-discarded backpacks, putting them to use where they can do the most good.

The backpack collection center is located on campus in the Psychology Department in Faculty Office North Building, Room 24.

Additional activities planned by the students include a collection marathon that will be held at the Arroyo Grande Wal-Mart on May 25, during which students will gather donated items including packaged foods, personal toiletry articles and household storage items. An additional collection center is being coordinated at the Food-4-Less in San Luis Obispo.

As part of an assignment from Psychology Professor Shawn Burn’s Group Dynamics class, the students work as a team planning fundraising events for nonprofit agencies in San Luis Obispo County. The project provides students an opportunity to practice leadership, conflict management and organizational skills, as well as the interpersonal skills necessary in the workplace, while also serving the local community.

For more information, contact Marie Hughes at emhughes@calpoly.edu or 591-9635.

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