Brown Dining Services' student employees can win compensation for low-paying and unpaid summer internships through a fund created by a former BuDS worker and recent alum.
If the fund reaches at least $25,000 by the end of the academic year it will be endowed and continue "for as long as Brown is around," said Dora Ruiz '06, who created the fund. But Ruiz is hoping to raise $50,000 in order to provide for more students.
If the endowment goal is not reached, whatever is raised will be used to fund the program until the money runs out.
Students applying for the grant must demonstrate financial need, have worked for BuDS for at least a year, and have a recommendation letter from a BuDS supervisor. Hopeful workers must apply to receive the grant for a specific internship.
Ruiz worked for BuDS for over three years when she was at Brown. She wanted to give back, but there was "nothing yet set up for donating to BuDS or BuDS employees," she said. Now anyone can donate to the fund through the University's website.
Ruiz and a fellow alum, Cindy Swain '09, have each pledged to donate a dollar for each member who joins a Facebook group that Ruiz created to raise awareness about the fund when the group reaches 2,000 members.
The Brown Internship Award Program, which provides grants to undergraduates with low-paying and unpaid internships, saw a 21 percent increase in applicants last year, according to an April 28 Herald article. Ruiz pointed to this increase in demand for internship grants as a main reason for setting up the fund.
"It was hard when you were working all year to make ends meet, let alone to let go and do what you want for the summer," Ruiz said.
When Ruiz was a student, she applied for a BIAP grant to work for a nonprofit in Boston that worked to prepare high school students for the coming school year, but was waitlisted. She ended up working as a summer RC instead.
"It was OK, but it wasn't my passion. I like to work with underprivileged youth," Ruiz said.
Ruiz contacted Ann Hoffman, director of administration for Dining Services, who said she was "bowled-over, not surprised, but struck by the fact that four years after (Ruiz) graduated, her BuDS experience had still been so meaningful that she wanted to give something back."
"Dining Services wouldn't be able to financially support the fund," Hoffman added, but the fund will have her "full support".
Ruiz has also been in contact with Melanie Masarin '12, the general manager for BuDS, in order to help facilitate fundraising on campus.
According to Masarin, the fundraising is still in the early planning stages but a few local businesses have already donated to the cause. Avon Cinema has contributed 50 movie tickets, which Masarin said she hopes to raffle off at a benefit in the spring.
BuDS employees will also soon have the opportunity to work at the Gate on Friday or Saturday night and donate their wages to the fund, she said.
