News briefs

   

Win a giftcard
Share your opinion of Penn Bookstore's products and services and you could win a $100 giftcard to the store. To complete the 2005 Bookstore survey, go to the store's website at www.upenn.edu/survey/bookstore.

Operation Santa
You can help a senior citizen or child have a brighter holiday season by making a donation to Operation Santa Claus, whose annual party will be held Dec. 13 at University City's Sheraton Hotel. This year's honorees will be the Penn Center for Rehabilitation & Care (Ralston House) and St. Mary's Villa for Abused & Neglected Children. To find out how to make a contribution or donate a gift, call Yvonne at 898-4210 or Anne Marie Pitts at 898-7341. For staffers who work in Physical Plant/Facilities, contact George Reale at 898-7171.

More ways to help
Now through Dec. 15 you can donate new and gently used coats to the Annual Penn VIPS Coat Drive. Drop coats at 619 Williams Hall (Amy Forsyth 898-6046) or Center for Community Partnerships, 133 South 36th/5th Floor (Isabel Mapp 898-2020). You can also participate in Penn's annual Toy Drive by donating small, unwrapped gifts for children and adults. Go to www.upenn.edu/ccp/getinvolved/student_portal/employment.shtml and click on Monthly Volunteer Opportunities for a list of drop-sites.

Generous donors
Penn recently received two generous gifts from alumni. The first was given by George Weiss W'65, who donated $14 million for undergraduate financial aid. President of a Hartford, Conn.-based money management firm, Weiss also founded the national Say Yes to Education program. He has given more than $58 million to Penn and is a charter trustee. The second came from Raymond G. Perelman W'40 and his wife Ruth, who pledged $25 million to name the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, the state-of-the-art outpatient care facility under construction at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard. Perelman is president of RGP Holdings, Inc. and a Penn Medicine trustee.