Best Friends Animal Society Fundraiser

December 2017:  Wherever possible, I like to build community engagement/service projects into the curriculum. For the past three years, MKTG 1910 launched service projects as part of their three major events. This semester students opted to work with Best Friends Animal Society. The fundraiser had an additional challenge:  Petco double booked non-profit groups during our time slot. We had to compete against a generic non-profit Santa for fundraising dollars. 

The students and I hatched a plan: Santa was inside and we were stationed outside. We set a goal to get fundraising commitment from customers before the public entered the store.

​The students provided lists of supplies, cash jars and even brought their own dogs dressed as Santa to lure customers away from the jolly fat man inside. To get attention, we all dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters, played holiday music and let our dogs approach the public. My personal dog, Vader, had several offers of adoption (to which I respectfully declined). At the end of the day non-profit Santa gathered $75 for his several causes, and we made over $600 in cash and supplies for Best Friends Animal Society. It was a success!
Wasatch Community Gardens
September 8th, 2017: SLCC Day of Service:
Before settling in at the Business Department Professional Development program, I spent a few hours of hard labor at Wasatch Community Gardens. Our job was to put together the frames for steel greenhouses. It built up a good sweat. 
Canyonlands Field Institute
February 2017:  I joined faculty from universities and colleges across Utah to help clean up and move Yurts at Canyonlands Field Institute. The service project was part of our Campus Compact Community Engagement Conference. This was a very physical project. It took several people and their muscles to move a few yurts across the lot. Other service projects included weeding and trail blazing. 

    Nuzzles & Co. Pet Rescue and Adoption 

In Fall of 2016, an Event Marketing student introduced me to Nuzzles & Co. Pet Rescue and Adoption. The Event Marketing students collaborated with a student group from MKTG 1070 Advertising and Promotions class to create a supply drive event. The students partnered with Petco to market and advertise the drive, then braved the cold on a Saturday to collect supplies. I was also at the event with the students to provide support and a van to transport the supplies.

It was a success. The students collected thousands of dollars of supplies. It was one of the largest drives for the organization. Since the drive, I have formed a partnership with Nuzzles & Co. Pet Rescue and Adoption to create future collaborations and events.
India Service Learning Trip

​I served as the faculty representative in a partnership with Westmister College and Ashok Joshi to launch the India Study Abroad program for Salt Lake Community College. My work on the project included recruiting students, writing award proposals course design and establishing Salt Lake Community College partnerships with community partners in India. 

Westminster College and Salt Lake Community College students used their eportfolios to market crowdsource videos for funding for their trip. I was also able help each student receive $1200 in award travel funds through the Community Engagement Award program.

As the faculty lead for the program, I was able to work with Lucy Smith to make the India Study Abroad program a Service Learning Designation Program. 

The India Study Abroad trip included the following service activities:
  • Building Businesses: In 2018, students provided five lice kits to different villages and trained women how to start a lice removal business. 
  • Microfinance:  Students worked with 18 women to help create a business plan and start a business. The women were provided over $250,000 rupees to help launch their business.
  • Presentations in Indian schools: SLCC students partnered with Westminster College Education majors to create and present education activities.
  • Working with the mentally challenged: Students helped mentally challenged children create a mural which was dedicated and displayed in the community library in a village in India. 
  • Study Jam Presentation: India Study Abroad students shared their India experience with Salt Lake Community College students through a Service-Learning oriented presentation. 

The Masonic Philosophical Society

The Masonic Philosophical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the public education of the Liberal Arts. Members of the Masonic Philosophical Society create Socratic discussions on Art, Science, Literature, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Culture, Leadership, History, and Economics. Discussions are taught in public libraries and are free to the public. I serve in a leadership role in the local chapter, where I help organize, market and lead the MPS discussions. 


Lupus
​H.E.A.L. Event

​I included a service learning project as part of the curriculum for MKTG 1910: Event Marketing. Our class worked with the Utah Chapter of The Lupus Foundation of America to plan the event.

The students created fliers, surveys, radio advertisements, press releases, social media campaigns and a video commercial that played on both the Lupus website and SLCC monitors. The students also solicited donations for prizes, which included World Market decorative mugs and wooden spoons for all attendees.

During the event, SLCC students assisted with the set up, tear down, provided the entertainment and used several cameras to capture the event.