Pacific Union College’s annual Phonathon kicked off on October 9 and will run for five evenings a week until December 7. A total of 34 students are staffing the phones in order to reach this year’s goal of $165,000, an amount that will be allocated to scholarships, residence hall renovation, and faculty development through PUC’s annual fund.

The generous support from alumni has Phonathon on track to meet its goal, and Tonya Kamaloni of the alumni and advancement office is confident of the program’s success. “We have been receiving a steady number of gifts each evening and are optimistic that this generosity will continue over the next seven weeks so we can reach our goal of $165,000,” says Kamaloni.

Phonathon was originally supported by faculty and staff volunteers. Twenty phone lines were set up in the side rooms of the cafeteria where the first Phonathon workers made their calls. Now entering its 31st year, Phonathon employs nearly twice the number of callers and has become a student-driven affair, a characteristic unique to the college’s fundraising campaigns, and one that provides the students with an opportunity to directly contribute to supporting PUC and its future.