UC Irvine Giving Day

For the past 10 years, the UC Irvine Basic Needs Center has been part of campus life because students insisted it should be. 

It began in a small space, created through student advocacy and a shared understanding that hunger, housing insecurity and financial stress were not individual failures - they were societal realities.

Since then, the center has expanded into an incredible campus resource serving thousands of students each year. It has grown alongside generations of students navigating rising costs, shifting economic pressures and unexpected circumstances that can change everything in a single quarter. The details look different from year to year, but the underlying need has remained. 

Today, the Basic Needs Center supports students through vital resources, including access to our food pantries and emergency services. Our assistance helps ensure students have an equal chance to succeed, regardless of their financial background or personal circumstances. Last year, 7,115 unique undergraduate and graduate students relied on this support, resulting in 29,926 visits.

Many of the students who come through our doors are the first in their families to attend college. Many students we serve are also ineligible for government assistance, and they navigate college while facing additional barriers to accessing federal resources. Others are balancing school, work and family responsibilities, or are facing financial uncertainty.

We are a center that students trust. A place they turn to when things go wrong. That trust is earned. Students know they can come here without having to justify their need. They are met with care, respect, and an understanding that asking for help is not a failure; it is part of getting through college in an increasingly expensive and unpredictable world.

This Giving Day, we are raising $20,000 to sustain and strengthen our food pantries and emergency services. These funds will go directly toward maintaining reliable food access, supporting students through emergencies and ensuring the center continues to offer steady support year after year so that students can access what they need, when they need it.

UC Irvine Giving Day is an opportunity to invest in student well-being. Every contribution helps sustain services that students rely on long after the day itself ends.

For the past decade, this work has been shaped by students and sustained by community support.

Your gift turns uncertainty into possibility. Help us step into tomorrow with the confidence you raise today.