UA Students Able to Use Bama Cash or Dining Dollars to Contribute to Red Cross

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In response to a student suggestion, University of Alabama students will soon be able to contribute Dining Dollars or Bama Cash funds to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to benefit the thousands of people affected by the acts of terrorism in New York and Washington, D.C.

Dining Dollars and Bama Cash are student debit accounts normally used for food, vending and other services.

In order to contribute Dining Dollars or Bama Cash funds to the American Red Cross, students and other account holders may go to Bama Dining locations Oct. 15-19. A form will be available at the cash registers to request a $5 or $10 donation be made to the Red Cross.

“In a letter to the editor of the Crimson White (the UA student-run newspaper), a student, Mark Reidenbach, made a suggestion about allowing students to contribute to relief efforts,” Kristina Hopton-Jones, food liaison for the University, said. “We thought that Mark’s idea was a good one, and we went to work to determine how we could offer students that opportunity.”

Auxiliary Services, Bama Dining/ARAMARK, ACTion Card and the Tuscaloosa Coca-Cola Bottling Co. have developed a plan to allow students to request a portion of their Dining Dollars or Bama Cash to be donated to the Red Cross relief efforts.

“This plan is a great way to allow both students and the University and our business partners an opportunity to contribute to this worthy cause,” Gina Johnson, director of auxiliary services, said. “Students contribute directly from their accounts, while our departments and companies are also able to support those relief efforts.”

Bama Dining, which is part of ARAMARK Corp., has a special link to some of the victims of the World Trade Center Towers tragedy. ARAMARK ran the food court at the observation deck of WTC Tower #2.

“Some of the missing victims at the WTC are our fellow ARAMARK employees,” Mike Bellefeuil, director of Bama Dining, said. “This connection makes us especially happy to be able to help with the relief efforts.”

ARAMARK Corp. has also played a pivotal role in supporting and feeding the emergency relief effort.

For more information, contact Hopton-Jones at 205/348-5686 or khjones@fa.ua.edu, or Shirley Darr, marketing director of auxiliary and support services, at 205/348-9828 or sdarr@fa.ua.edu.