October UC Davis Crowdfund campaign rallies support for university projects

This year’s cohort features 40 projects at UC Davis and UC Davis Health

By ZAYNAB MOHIUDDEEN — campus@theaggie.org

In this month’s Crowdfund UC Davis campaign, nearly 40 projects are seeking funding for initiatives across UC Davis and UC Davis Health — including 19 led by students.

Crowdfund donations help participating groups cover costs that can determine whether a project moves forward or how many students it reaches. Participating projects span from club activities to academic pursuits and community service.

This month’s student-led campaigns include club sports like fencing and ice hockey, academic competition teams like Moot Court and the UC Davis Collegiate Soil Judging Team and initiatives supporting the Bayanihan Clinic and Student Emergency Relief Aid.

Since February 2020, 351 projects in previous Crowdfund cohorts (held twice a year in October and February) have raised nearly $1.3 million, according to Michelle Poesy, managing executive director of UC Davis’ Annual and Special Gifts program. The campaign has received 11,129 gifts in six years, with projects raising an average of $3,691 each.

The UC Davis Crowdfund team identified Princess Pals at UC Davis as the first student-led project to reach its goal this October, followed by a project by the Advanced Modeling Aeronautics Team.

For returning participant Davis Baja Racing, donations will help students build a new single-seat, gas-powered off-road vehicle without taking parts from their previous car. The team competes against other universities in engineering, business and racing events and said it exceeded its fundraising goals in both of its previous two Crowdfund campaigns.

Jack Kimble, a fourth-year electrical engineering major and Baja Racing team captain, says donations will help purchase components including shocks, wheels and tires.

“This year, we're actually working on something pretty big,” Kimble said. “We're trying to build a whole new car from scratch instead of taking parts from the previous car to save money. In theory, by the end of it, we'll have two running cars.”

Beyond competition, the project gives students experience applying engineering and business skills.

“Everything that we do is real,” Kimble said. “We do actual vehicle design, we build car parts that translate pretty directly into building actual cars that GM, Ford, Toyota are making. It's one of the best ways for students to build engineering skills and business skills, in an environment that is as close as you can get to doing actual work.”

While Baja Racing seeks support for its next vehicle, Hands on the Land — a graduate student-run organization that brings students and community members to UC natural reserves for restoration work, shared meals and group activities — is raising money to keep their outdoor restoration trips free for participants. Donations help cover transportation, food and equipment.

“[Hands on the Land] is a place where you can build community outside of academia,” Gavin Chaboya, a co-director of Hands on the Land, said. “It's a free and lovely way to get hands-on experience with how restoration work happens while also building community by a small group of people really coming together to work and cook and play together.”

Trips typically serve 20 to 30 people, and demand regularly exceeds available spots. Looking ahead, Hands on the Land co-director Molly Thibado says the program is working to keep participation accessible.

“We really make it a point to make it free for students,” Thibado said. “We don't want them to feel burdened to get out there, and we don't want to create a scenario where we have to deny someone because they couldn't cover a trip. A lot of people here, especially in Davis, might not have a car. So it's hard to get out to these reserves, and so these donations help cover the cost of transportation.”

Chaboya, who first joined Hands on the Land as an undergraduate participant, says the trips help people connect beyond their usual academic circles.

“A majority of these people, they don’t know anyone, and the comfortability that they build with these folks just overnight is something that’s unparalleled in my experience,” Chaboya said. “Even now as a graduate student, where cohorts are so tightly knit, it’s easy to be so hyperfocused in your small group, and it’s harder to branch out and have that same comfortability with folks.”

Beyond building those connections, Chaboya hopes more participants will recognize the reserves as places they can return to for academic work.

“These UC reserves are for y’all,” Chaboya said. “You can use these for your research. If you want to go write your dissertation, your thesis, whatever, if you want to go study out there, you can just hit up any of the reserve managers.”

Readers can explore participating projects and donate on the Crowdfund UC Davis campaign website through Oct. 31.

Written by: Zaynab Mohiuddeen — campus@theaggie.org