January 2006 St. Mary's Food Bank - During Fiesta Bowl weekend, the club teamed up with lots of Buckeyes from Columbus to work at St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix. Typically, Ohio State issues a challenge to the faculty and students of the team competing against us in the bowl game: Let’s team up to do community service in the city hosting the bowl game. Notre Dame declined to join the event, so the Phoenix Alumni Club was called upon to help out. Tracy Stuck with the Ohio Union organized President Holbrook, team coach’s wives and students visiting from Columbus to participate. I organized 45 folks from Phoenix and Tracy found another 80. Together we sorted food, packed boxes and bagged apples for distribution. Due to the excellent turn-out of Buckeye volunteers, this was St. Mary's most successful 3 hour distribution ever! These projects showcase the giving spirit of all of our members in Phoenix and we are very proud that they not only help during bowl week, but are supportive of the entire Valley and are always willing to help out when needed.
December 2005 - Channel 8 We manned the phones for public TV and were able to gather $32,000. This is an annual event and we love giving back to the Tempe community that has opened their city to us for the 3 Fiesta Bowls. It also helps fund educational programs here in the Valley.
Phoenix Buckeyes care about our community!
by Bonnie Patterson, Secretary
November 2005 - Mesa United Food Bank - During the 2005 football season, we created "Buckeye Bucks for the Needy” to raise money for Mesa United Food Bank. During the last 3 games, everyone at Hanratty’s, our football venue, was given the opportunity to contribute a dollar when the Buckeyes scored a touchdown. We set our goal at $200 which corresponds to feeding about 1600 people. The Phoenix Buckeye fans were so generous and the Buckeyes scored so often that we actually gathered $410 and were able to feed 3200+ folks during the winter months!
November 2006Mesa United food Bank On Thursday November 2, 2006 we officially donated $750 to the United Food Bank in Mesa. Our club continued our “pass the hat” after every Buckeye touchdown program that was so successful last year. Buckeye fans kicked in a dollar for every Buckeye touchdown. We set a goal of $500, but holy cow the Buckeyes kept on scoring and scoring! The Phoenix Buckeyes stepped up and continued their generous donations until we hit $750 at the Minnesota game. United Food Bank collects food and makes meals and donations to food service groups who provide meals for homeless or the less fortunate. It is so good to know that the Phoenix Buckeyes are so generous and willing to help the community that is Ohio State’s "home-away-from-home"!
December 2007 - Our club has a yearly commitment to help serve the Valley of the Sun through community service projects. This fall we continued our tradition of "Buckeye Bucks" for United Food Bank of Mesa. Many schools and groups gather food for the Food Bank, but they always need help with the perishables that have to be purchased right before the holiday meals. 3 years ago, our club began gathering $1 from every game-watch Buckeye when the team scored in October. (October is traditionally "Make a Difference Month across the country.) That year we gathered $450. In 2006, we were able to gather $750, and this year, with the help of our second game-watch site, Tango Grill, we were able to donate $1000! This is so beneficial to the people who are less fortunate in the Valley and can help them have a good meal on Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas. We send our thanks to all the Buckeye fans who attended games at Hanratty's and Tango Grill and helped us show that Buckeyes are a great football fans with lots of generous community spirit too!
