Breadcrumb

Graduate School outreach manager prompts crowdsourcing to help feed health care workers

Morgan Lagomarsino

Morgan Lagomarsino had simple intentions when she made a Facebook post before going to sleep one recent evening.

The recruitment and outreach manager for Pacific’s Graduate School has a close friend who is a nurse. Lagomarsino sought to “collect a few dollars” to buy pizza for her friend and other medical staff working to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

“I woke up to more than $300 in pledges,” Lagomarsino said. “I was shocked.”

Before the day was over, she had received more than $900 in pledges.

“The donations were coming in from Pacific colleagues, personal friends and random people I did not even know,” said Lagomarsino, who is working on her master’s degree in communication studies at Pacific. “Domino’s donated 10 pizzas and even more pizzas at cost.”

Graduate School colleague Alyse Patterson was not surprised. “Morgan is a rock star,” she said.

Lagomarsino coordinated delivery of 20 pizzas each to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, Doctors Hospital of Manteca, Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, Kaiser Permanente in Modesto and Manteca, and San Joaquin General Hospital. Additional pizzas went to health care personnel in other areas of the state.

Lagomarsino said she had hundreds of dollars left over. After more pizza deliveries, she will donate the remaining funds to agencies serving health care workers.

“This was very rewarding and made those of us in the Graduate School pleased that we could help people who are doing such important work,” she said.