Our Crowdfunding Groups
Our crowdfunding campaign has ended but you can still support the Center for Community Engagement by clicking here.
My name is Praneel Bonthala and I am a fourth-year Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics major with a minor in both Global Health and Community Engagement and Social Change (CESC). I am an aspiring doctor, but those words were abstract until I had the opportunity to tap into the Los Angeles community through the CESC minor. The minor exposes students to a city diverse in people, culture, and history. Working with different community-based nonprofits in LA helped me work through my own definition of health without the textbook.
To me, the CESC minor is what has defined my experience here at UCLA. As both a visual and hands-on learner, the minor pushed the boundary of what I thought was possible as a student. Flipping the classic academic script of memorizing long hours of lectures from the classroom, the minor encourages students to dictate their own terms of learning, from information depositories to proactive stakeholders. Experiential learning helped me learn what I was really passionate about when it came to health and medicine. 
As a senior in the minor, I am about to embark on a two-quarter long research capstone project. My classmates and I will apply our academic training and creative thinking to address pressing issues faced by communities, working closely with local partners. We are given the chance to work collaboratively on issues that matter to us, like immigration, healthcare and environmental justice, with over 80 community organizations all across the city.
However, not all of us can afford to take on the costs associated with this minor or have the means to fully engage in community work. A group of my fellow classmates, recent alumni and I know first-hand about the expenses we face to complete this minor. That’s why we’ve come together to pay it forward and raise support for community engagement at UCLA, our peers, and our community.
We invite you to join us in our first-ever Spark crowdfunding campaign and help us reach our goal of $5,000! Your contribution will fund more community-engaged research and learning opportunities to generate support for LA's diverse communities. Your gift, no matter the size, will make an incredible impact for our senior projects and educational experience. Help us give more students the same incredible opportunities we had to engage with our communities and make a difference in our world.
Investing in our Senior Capstone Projects
Moving forward into the coming year, I am incredibly grateful for the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) for giving me the opportunity to continue building a relationship with the city of LA. For my capstone project, I am hoping to work with different nonprofit organizations to measure how music tradition and culture influences health outcomes in LA. As a center of music of all forms since the 1940s, I am looking forward to exploring the historic role of music in assembling the community of LA.
As ambassadors of the minor, we have identified several areas where you can make a difference. Help expand access to the minor and give students the tools they need to research and participate in community projects.
Community Immersion: To properly learn from and collaborate with communities, we need to be physically in these spaces. However, many of us cannot afford or cannot access reliable transportation options, putting undue strain and preventing many from joining the minor to begin with. Your support can allow greater student access to impactful learning experiences by providing money for fuel, bike rentals and public transit passes – enhancing community relationships in the process.
Project Materials and Resources: Community-engaged research and projects often utilize software and tools, as well as compensation for research participants’ time and labor, your contribution provides the essential resources that cover the costs of these projects.
How CCE Makes a Difference
Community engagement comes in many forms, across disciplines and geographies. Below we share more of our stories on how our senior capstone projects made a difference in local communities and enriched our educational journeys.
More about the Center for Community Engagement
Preparing the next generation of leaders and thinkers needs education that goes beyond the classroom. That’s why UCLA is committed to connecting students with real-world opportunities to put their learning into practice, utilizing the university’s deep connections with its surrounding communities. UCLA’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE) is the bridge between the university and the communities it serves, connecting students with impactful educational experiences and collaborating with local groups. By supporting the Center for Community Engagement, you are investing in a generation of socially engaged leaders and community members and strengthening our civic society and its many facets.
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Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how the UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.
Help us get to our community partnerships all across Los Angeles by covering our next fill up.
Your contribution will ensure reliable access to transportation regardless of access to a car through options such as bus passes and rideshare services.
Help students pay for all the things they might need to complete their capstone research - textbooks, program and licensing fees, and other research materials.
Make a gift at this level to support our graduation celebration. Feel free to join us at our open year-end celebration for our graduating seniors and community partners.