Tag: community service

Nearly 1 in 4 people living in the City of St. Louis lives in poverty and faces hunger.  As summer approaches and school lets out, approximately 173,000 children at risk for hunger in the bi-state region will lose their access to free & reduced breakfast and lunch.  These hungry children could fill Busch Stadium four times!

Together, we can help fill children’s bellies this summer so they won’t go hungry.  Washington University is partnering with Operation Food Search to coordinate the 5^th annual PB&Joy University-Wide Food Drive, which runs April 2-14.

Once again, we will be encouraging some “healthy” competition between Olin students and Olin staff/faculty to determine who will win bragging rights and our Olin PB&Joy traveling trophy!!

There are two easy ways for EVERYONE to participate:

1.  Donate food at a drop-off location near you:  Simon Hall, Knight Hall 310 or Knight Center Student Center.  Kid-friendly foods are preferred and all food is welcome.  No glass items, please!

2.  Make an online donation to Operation Food Search.  Visit http://fooddrive.wustl.edu to make a secure, tax-deductible donation to Operation Food Search.  Payment is by credit card, and every $5 donation allows Operation Food Search to provide 45 meals!

Please visit http://fooddrive.wustl.edu to learn more about childhood hunger in St. Louis and opportunities to get involved beyond PB&Joy. 

Olin kicked off its annual United Way campaign with a big goal and an enthusiastic call to action from Al Kent, Director of the Olin/United Way Board Fellows Program and Adjunct Professor of Accounting. United Way is truly changing and improving lives in our community.

Kent told a gathering of faculty and staff at a lunch kick off meeting, “Giving back to our community is a responsibility and a privilege for those of us who are able. The amount you may decide to give is not the important factor, rather, your participation is what is critical. Working together we can continue to improve the lives of those in our community, many of those people are right here among us.”

The Specialized Masters Programs (SMP) Office has a new service initiative this Academic Year for all SMP students, faculty and staff. Last Friday in Knight and Bauer Hall, the SMP Service Program kicked off its calendar of opportunities with an engaging presentation from the WUSTL Community Service Office.

Tim Dugan, Coordinator of Community Service, introduced students to Graduate Resources at the University. He presented a video about the history of St. Louis and interacted with students using a critical thinking activity.

Students and staff alike walked away from the event with a better understanding of self and service. The next Program Event will be in October in partnership with the Give Thanks Give Back Gift Drive.

Guest blogger: Rachelle Potter

Have you ever donated to a clothing drive, but wondered who you were actually helping?  Did that old shirt you tossed into the bin really make a difference? Here’s a true tale about the Olin Unite4Kids Clothing Drive and how it changed one young man’s life. By Michael McLaughlin, MBA’14, founder of Unite4Kids.

The 2nd Annual Unite4Kids Clothing Drive will benefit the Logos School and St. Louis area agencies that help neglected and abused children.  Donations can be made by placing clothing into the blue bin located in the Olin Graduate Programs office until the end of the semester.

In 2013, the Olin student group Unite4Kids organized a clothing drive.  Robert Chen, MBA ’13, brought in a suit that no longer fit him.  Although the suit was in good condition, Robert wondered if anyone would actually wear it.  After all, the suit had been used, and Robert didn’t know of any corporate executives who filled out their wardrobes by rummaging around in plastic bins.  Nevertheless, Robert brought the suit in, placed it in the bin, and hoped something good would happen.

It did.

The clothes were received by Logos, a St. Louis alternative school that helps struggling kids graduate from high school.  The Logos School does an amazing job helping kids academically:  98% of its students graduate and 92% go on to attend post-secondary education.  Logos students’ average ACT score is even a full three points higher than the state average.

Yet, academic challenges are not the only obstacles Logos students face.  The school’s principal, Kathy Boyd-Fenger, notes that “42% of the students come from families that are living below the poverty line.”  Thus when prom rolled around, some of the kids were embarrassed to admit they didn’t have anything nice to wear.  Other students went on job interviews wearing t-shirts, not because they didn’t care about their appearance, but because they couldn’t afford anything nice to wear.

This is where Robert’s suit comes in.

Somewhere in the enormous pile of clothes that was donated by the Olin community, Robert’s suit was found by a Logos student named Stephen.  A senior at Logos, Stephen was described by Kathy as a “compassionate, kind young man” who was well-liked by students and staff.  Unfortunately, Stephen didn’t have a lot of nice clothes, and there wasn’t much he could do about it.  But now he spotted an opportunity:he picked up Robert’s suit and tried it on.

It was a perfect fit.

In an instant, Stephen’s life had changed:  he suddenly had a sharp suit to wear for prom.  But Stephen liked the suit so much he couldn’t bear to wear it just once.  He began wearing the suit to school almost every day, receiving compliments on how nice he looked as he confidently walked to and from class.

So the next time you’re wondering whether those old clothes you never wear should just be tossed out, remember that by simply placing them in a bin you have the opportunity to change someone’s life.

Olin has been nominated for a TeamMBA Award which honors business school students who are “in the business of giving back”.  Anyone can vote online and as often as they like. The Hike4Kids organization created by MBA students last year and its evolution into Unite4Kids – a school wide movement to encourage community service through mentoring at-risk and abused children were nominated as Olin’s flagship programs for the the award.

The winners will be named at the GMAC Annual Conference in Vancouver June 20.

Sponsored by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the annual TeamMBA Award program recognizes schools that exemplify a commitment to social responsibility through the actions of their students and the school’s demonstrated support of these efforts. Entries are reviewed by a committee composed of business school professionals.

VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN!! 

Grab that suit and tie in the back of your closet and donate it to the Unite4Kids Clothing Drive. If the shoes don’t fit or the pants are too tight for you, they might be just the right size for a student at the Logos School.

Logos does an excellent job helping kids from difficult backgrounds succeed and earn a high school diploma, but finishing high school is just part of the picture as the youth ultimately need to find their first job.

Many of these students lack the financial means to dress for success, so your donation of new or gently-used clothes could make all the difference in a young person’s life!

Please drop off all clothes to Claire Patterson in the MBA office by April 15.  If you have questions regarding the clothing drive, contact Michael McLaughlin at mclaughlinm@wustl.edu