The holiday season is a time for giving for many people.

Another way to give this holiday season is right here on campus and over 400 University employees have already donated. The United Way and Northwest Community Shares Campaign is a charity fundraiser that’s been established for many years.

“The BGSU employees are very charitable and [the committee] is very grateful for their participation,” said University Libraries Dean Sara Bushong, chair of the campaign committee.

Bushong said that the committee sent out notifications to faculty and staff when the campaign began. Employees can donate by sending in a pledge card, donation electronically and they can also choose a payroll deduction which donates small increments off of each paycheck.

Although the faculty and staff are solicited for donations, Bushong said that undergraduate students are not solicited directly by the committee.

“Students already pay a lot to go to school here,” Bushong said. “They certainly can [donate] if they’d like to, but they don’t have to.”

Jill Carr, Vice President for Student Affairs and co-chair of the committee, described United Way as an “all-encompassing organization” that serves many different charities. When someone pledges a donation, they are able to give the money directly to United Way or specify what local charity their dollars go to.

Carr is serving her first year as co-chair of the campaign committee. Carr said that her role in the committee is to encourage departments “to do creative things to get more involved.” One example she gave is if an office encouraged people to donate by offering the option to wear jeans on a designated date.

Laurel Zawodny is the assistant to the President and her work with the campaign is mostly described as “behind the scenes.” Zawodny said that there are prize winners drawn every week throughout the campaign. Some of these prizes could include a bookstore gift card and BGSU history book as well as prizes donated by committee members, Zawodny said.

At the end of the campaign, there are final prizes drawn. This year, Zawodny said there are two final prizes which are both gift baskets that the bookstore donated.

The campaign started in October and goes through Dec. 31, which leaves more time to donate. Zawodny said that if a faculty or staff member lost their pledge card, they are able to print another one off of the University’s charity website.