Events

UHAA and Supporting Causes that Matter

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nonprofit organizations have had to employ more creative ways to involve their volunteers and stakeholders in community outreach efforts. As a committed partner and supporter of the University of Houston and its over 300,000 alumni base, UHAA wanted to continue its mission of alumni engagement despite the challenges. “The pandemic has really made us rethink our events and initiatives on a whole new level,” said Mike Pede (’89), Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations. “We knew that our alumni would welcome the opportunity to connect while making a difference.”

To lend support behind the University of Houston’s initiative to help members of the community in immediate need of food assistance, UHAA spearheaded its first-ever Virtual 5K in 2020. With over 350 participants, from 15 states and Saudi Arabia, the event raised $10,000 for the Houston Food Bank via the Spirt Food Fund. The Spirit Food Fund was established by a gift to the University of Houston from the Cullen Trust Foundation to raise support for and community awareness of the Houston Food Bank.

As the pandemic has increased the need for food assistance, it has also intensified the need for blood donations. In addition to essential medical procedures that require fresh blood to save lives, plasma, which is the liquid part of blood, is used for a number of specialized medical treatments. In response to the current decline of blood donations, UHAA teamed up with the Gulf Coast Blood Center to hold socially-distanced blood drives in 2020.

As expected, UH alumni stepped up to help members of the community. One-hundred and nineteen donors gave 152 units of blood, saving 456 lives.

Coogs for Houston: Blood Drive

Webinars: A New Era in Alumni Engagement

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic affected many of UHAA’s traditional methods for alumni engagement, such as Party on the Plaza, tailgates, Homecoming, alumni chapter meetings, and networking opportunities. Because the value of connection is so important, UHAA launched its UH2U Alumni Webinar series in the Spring of 2020.

From navigating the financial impacts during the pandemic, managing mental health and wellness, leaning the art of wine tasting to charting your career path, there were a variety of topics that spoke to various segments of the UH alumni base.

“Our webinar series really showed us how much our alumni enjoy connecting with each other and learning about new subjects,” said Mike Pede (’89), Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations. “We plan to continue bringing our alumni webinars that cater to their likes and interests.”

Screenshot of a webinar