Rose Bowl Game Fans, Utes and Buckeyes Alike, Plan to “Give Back” to Local Community During Game Week

University of Utah and Ohio State fans may be hoping their teams beat the other’s on the gridiron January 1, but they are teaming together to shower Pasadenas with gratitude for the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl in the days leading up to the contest.

With as many as 60,000 Utes fans planning to head to Pasadena for the game on New Year’s Day, University of Utah students, faculty, staff, alumni, fans and community members have put together a fundraising challenge to give back to Pasadena, the Rose Bowl host.

All funds raised in the generous challenge will benefit the Pasadena non-profit, Friends in Deed, a University of Utah announcement on Saturday said.

In addition, Utah fans will set aside their competitiveness and join Buckeye supporters for a Rose Bowl Community Service Project by volunteering to pack food boxes for the Los Angeles Food Bank on Friday, December 31, at the Food Bank in Commerce, between 9 and 11 a.m.

“When the University of Utah wins the 2022 championship game, we also want to ensure that we have given something back to our host community,” Dean McGovern, executive director of the Bennion Center for Community Engagement at the University of Utah, said. “Each year the city of Pasadena rings in the new year by hosting more than 90,000 visitors who attend the Rose Bowl game. We want to thank our hosts by leaving it better than we found it.”

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, executive director of Friends In Deed, said they’re happy to partner with both universities during such a momentous event in Pasadena.

“We live by our slogan of ‘doing together what we cannot do alone,’ and these two universities coming together to support the local Pasadena community is the perfect example of a partnership for the greater good,” Rabbi Grater said. “Friends In Deed is committed to providing compassion, connection and dignity for clients experiencing times in their lives when they need assistance most.”

Friends in Deed has five core programs, including a food pantry providing food for up to 2,500 households yearly, the Women’s Room, a day shelter for homeless and at-risk women; the weather-activated Bad Weather Shelter which provides a warm meal and refuge in the winter months; a Street Outreach and Housing program to help reduce homelessness on the streets of Pasadena; and the Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance program offering emergency rent, case management or rental assistance resources to approximately 280 households each year.

Donating to the fundraising campaign will be through a donation portal that opens on Monday, December 20. The portal will close on New Year’s Day, and the total amount donated will be announced during the Rose Bowl Game.

The portal will be on https://one.bidpal.net/rosebowlchallenge/welcome.

To register as a volunteer for the Los Angeles Food Bank activity on December 31, visit https://utahsa.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dhTWscTQIDPRyRg.