UMatters

[The following was provided by Karen Lavendusky, Staff Council Governing Board Member]

Have you heard?  June 16^th is the annual Staff Picnic on the Quad (behind Haag and Royall Hall) from 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. The event is free to all UMKC Staff and is a great way to meet others at the University.  

Bring your UMKC ID card for entry and hold onto your plate for the all-you-can-eat buffet.  (Catering charges Staff Council per-plate used.) 

More than 20 vendors will be on hand to sell merchandise. Raffle tickets will also be sold: one for $ 1 or six for $ 5, or you can purchase tickets ahead of time at the following locations:

• Administrative Center- Wednesday June 9^th, 7 a.m. – 10 a.m., 2^nd floor lobby
• Health Sciences Building- Wednesday June 9^th, 12 p.m. – 3p.m., 1^st floor lobby

You do not have to present to win. A few of our exciting raffle and door prizes are a $ 50.00 gift certificate for handmade jewelry, a rain barrel, UMKC Theatre season tickets, T-Bone tickets, the Think Chair (a chair made of sustainable material) by Steelcase, Royals tickets and many more gift certificates.

During our last year’s “Go-Green” picnic, we achieved 89% waste free through recycling and composting with your help. We learned a lot from last year and have made changes to help us achieve our new goal of 100% waste free. These new measures include using butcher paper for the table tops versus throw away plastic table ware; regular sides versus individually wrapped potato chips bags; condiments in pumps versus individual packages; and reusable center pieces versus balloons. 

The center pieces will be rain garden plants, which will be planted in a rain garden on the south side of Oak Street Hall immediately after the picnic. The garden, which is donated to the campus by UMKC Staff, will contribute to the UMKC Sustainability Team’s goals of providing more gardens to the UMKC campus. If you are interested in helping to transport and plant the center pieces, please contact Richard Clark, a member of Staff Council Governing Board.

Another contribution from Staff is the purchase of drinks and candy at the Sweet Shop. Proceeds return to the Council to help fund future events and scholarships.

Aluminum cans will be collected and donated to the Habitat for Humanity’s recycling project, a program that benefits our wider community.  Please bring non-perishable food items, which we will be collecting for the local food drives.

We can’t make this a successful event without the support of our UMKC Staff. Your attendance and help in meeting our waste-free goal is important. Please come spend your lunch time with us.

Volunteers are still needed and vendor booths are still available, please call (#1356) or email contact Karen Lavendusky for more information.

The rain location for the picnic will be Pierson Auditorium at University Center. Visit the Staff Council Web site for more picnic information.