Celebrating Kellogg Cares Day

The annual tradition brought together hundreds of alumni volunteers to complete service projects in 14 cities worldwide.
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Kellogg
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Kellogg alumni volunteers wearing purple shirts stand in a warehouse below a sign that says "Thank you volunteers"
Alumni volunteers pitched in to help a wide variety of causes this Kellogg Cares Day, including this group that volunteered at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

A long-standing tradition at Kellogg and a highlight of the year, Kellogg Cares Day embodies the spirit of empathetic leadership as members across the Kellogg network dedicate their time, effort and resources to serve their local communities. Each year, Kellogg students and faculty step outside of the classroom to partner with local non-profits throughout Evanston and Chicagoland for a day of civic engagement. The event helps inspire networking among students, nonprofit leaders and community members while also providing an opportunity for students to utilize their skills and explore new interests in the nonprofit space.  

This past October, for the second year in a row, the Kellogg Alumni Council and the alumni club network hosted their own Kellogg Cares Day events, uniting alumni volunteers and making a meaningful impact in cities across the United States and around the globe.

Three Kellogg alumni volunteers wearing purple shirts clean up trash from a beach
Alumni in Hong Kong organized a beach cleanup day with Clean Shores.

“The event was fantastic!” Discussing the success of the inaugural Kellogg Cares Day in Bangalore, India, event leader Sankeerthana Pasupathi ’20 MBA was pleased with the attendance and noted the list of achievements of the day spent at Hope Foundation School, including painting, building a library and planting saplings, as well as cooking, serving and playing sports with more than 100 children. On a more personal level, alumni volunteers also felt a shared sense of purpose in the day’s work that helped them “develop meaningful connections for the long-term,” said Pasupathi.

This sentiment of connection and service was shared around the globe. “It was a fulfilling and fun way to give back to the community and meet other Kellogg alums,” said Sarah Jaffe ’93 MBA, who led the New York City volunteers preparing and packing meals at God’s Love We Deliver. Vijay Manoharan ’21 MBA, who organized the Kellogg Cares Day in Arkansas, “really enjoyed meeting with some of the alumni in the area and serving together at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.” 

A group of Kellogg alumni clean up trash beneath a highway underpass
Alumni in Los Angeles volunteered with Better Angels, an organization dedicating to solving homelessness.

In Houston, Texas, event leader Janice Teske ’98 MBA described Kellogg Cares Day as a “great success” with over 50 alumni volunteers packing 14,040 pounds of food (or 11,700 meals) for the Houston Food Bank. When asked if they would participate in Kellogg Cares Day again, the attendees responded “enthusiastically” noting the camaraderie between the alumni volunteers — ranging from the Class of 2023 to alumni who graduated in the 1990s. “It was great to be able to meet each other and connect while actively helping our Houston community,” said Teske.

From packaging fresh meals to building healthy play environments to cleaning up trash from our oceans and neighborhoods, the Kellogg alumni network overflows with leaders who continue to serve their communities and practice social impact in their everyday lives. 

For more information about Kellogg Cares Day, please visit: KCD - Campus Life. A full list of participating clubs and the organizations that the alumni volunteers worked with is below: