SG now offering free ponchos on campus for students

Students can now get free yellow ponchos from eight places across UF’s campus.

UF’s Student Government purchased 5,000 ponchos, which it began distributing Thursday, said Haley Smith, the chief of staff for Student Body President Susan Webster. The idea came about last Spring as a way to help students keep themselves and their belongings dry.

The $12,400 initiative was paid for with the remaining funds in the 2015-2016 special projects budget, she said. The total special projects budget for that time was $50,000.

Ponchos are available at Library West, Marston Science Library, the Dean of Students Office, the Hub, Southwest Recreation Center, Student Recreation, the Student Health Care Center and Fitness Center and the Reitz Union. Students can get one poncho from the information desk of a participating location by showing their Gator 1 Cards.

In June, 10,000 ponchos were originally purchased, Smith said. The Dean of Students Office got 5,000 for remaining Preview orientations. But in just one month, 4,600 had already been given out.

SG decided to give the remaining 5,000 to locations across campus, Smith said.

“Every few months we will re-evaluate if we need to redistribute, change distribution locations or the number of ponchos at each place by checking the inventory of all distribution locations,” Smith said.

Webster said she hopes the program will be successful.

“Getting caught in the rain with no way to protect ourselves or our valuables is a common issue in a city like Gainesville,” she said.

“The ponchos will help mitigate that student issue across campus,” she said.