May 21, 2012 | 01:42
Share:
Dec 17, 2009
Bruin Angel: She parties all the time, for a good cause
Proving that hard economic times can’t crush UCLA’s philanthropic spirit, UCLA Today once again received the names of several hardworking staff and faculty who were nominated by their admiring peers to be named Bruin Angels for 2009.
UCLA Today is pleased to honor these employees who donate their time and effort to causes near and dear to their hearts. Some of these charitable deeds were done at holiday time; some were done all through the year. In all cases, these acts of giving were performed outside of their full-time jobs.
Meet one such altruistic Bruin who deserves to be called an angel. We salute her for her inspiring work!
PATRICIJA PETRAC
Patricija Petrac (right) and a friend at the White Party for Cystic Fibrosis, a September fundraising event that took place at Los Angeles nightclub Boulevard 3.
Since last year, Petrac has spent much of her after-work hours at Philanthro Productions, a fledgling organization that invites volunteers to have fun while doing good for the community. Its hook: “Party for a better future.”
The group, which was founded in 2007 by two UCLA alumni — Andrew Geisse and Ian Lee — operates on a unique model. It chooses deserving local charitable organizations and organizes fundraising parties for them. A related goal: bringing together young adults looking to give something back and charities looking for their next wave of volunteers and leaders. Its beneficiaries have included the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Children’s Law Center for Los Angeles and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Petrac earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA in 2007 and joined the staff shortly afterward. She now has a dual role at UCLA, as an administrative assistant in the Center for the Study of Women and as a coordinator for the Jacob Marschak Colloquium, which holds biweekly forums on the applications of math and statistics in the behavioral sciences.
She first heard about Philanthro Productions early last year. After attending one of the group’s events in April as a guest, she quickly decided to offer her services behind the scenes — volunteering at parties in June and September, then taking on corporate sponsorship responsibilities and, in January, becoming the group’s head of human resources. Petrac usually devotes about 10 hours a week to Philanthro, up to 30 in the weeks leading up to events.
“I have always volunteered, and after I graduated from UCLA, I stopped,” Petrac says. “I felt a void and knew I had to get back to volunteering. In addition, I wanted to be surrounded by young people who were motivated, intelligent and wanted to do good.”
An added attraction was the opportunity to build her own expertise by getting involved during the group’s formative years. “Because it is an all-volunteer organization that is relatively small, I knew I would strengthen my existing abilities while expanding my skill set,” she says.
Of the events she has helped produce, one of the most memorable was an art auction and reception last December to benefit Upward Bound House, which provides housing for local homeless and low-income families. “I believed so much in the nonprofit that I worked incredibly hard the entire night, but it never once felt like work,” Petrac says.
After the event, Philanthro staff and a group of eager volunteers used the money they had raised to purchase supplies and decorate a family’s apartment. “I was so proud to be part of an organization that not only raised money [for the nonprofit] and contributed 100% of the proceeds, but that also inspired young individuals to go beyond the fundraiser and give back to such a worthy cause.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet three other Bruin Angels:
Check out the UCLA Volunteer Center to find opportunities to volunteer in the L.A. community.
