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Sophomores Phillips Wagner (left), Austin Allen and Michael Bretches help unload donated goods Thursday afternoon at Goodwill in College Station as a part of their BUSN 289 team project.

Business students volunteer, raise money for children with disabilities

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Posted: 11/7/08

Business 289 is split into 15 groups, made up of seven members each who raise money or volunteer hours to help a local charity for a semester-long project.

During this project, the groups are expected to work together practicing proposals, memo writing and various aspects of public relations.

Team Helping Hands, a group led by sophomore business major Hillary Anderson, is raising money for His Grace Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation that raises money for families with a child having to undergo a bone marrow transplant due to a form of cancer, aplastic anemia, SKIDS or a rare degenerative brain disease.

His Grace Foundation provides the families of these children with gift baskets upon arrival to the hospital as well as other amenities, such as personal shoppers and babysitters all based off donations and volunteer work. The team will be seeking gift baskets with necessities such as toiletries and mailing supplies, games, movies, snacks and any other items that are essential to an extended hospital stay.

"We've built gift baskets for the patients," Anderson said. "We have a facebook group where we can be contacted or people can e-mail me about ways to donate or purchase items for the gift baskets. His Grace Foundation also has a website that accepts donations for the kids."

Every team must either raise $1000 for the organization or put forth the equivalent in volunteer hours.

Another group, The SAVVY seven team, has chosen to dedicate the project toward The Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley. They have contributed more than 40 volunteer hours to the museum in hopes of creating a positive environment with the children of the museum.

"We all sat down and thought about what we were interested in, and our common interest was children so we thought of something that could help them in many ways and came up with the Children's Museum," said Alexsandra Martinez, a sophomore business administration major of The SAVVY seven team.

Martinez said the 40 hours are divided among the group to 17 hours each. The team dedicated the 40 hours toward The Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley annual Fall Fest.

"There was face painting, arts and crafts, a bouncer and many other activities for the kids. It was an all out ordeal that had a great turn out," Martinez said.

Anderson said in addition to the assistance the students are providing to non-profit organizations, they are improving business skills.

"It is a business simulation project. We have to be able to work together, take orders and raise money all as a team," Anderson said.

Samantha Mora, a sophomore business major, said the professor helps teach real business skills.

"We have to raise this $1000 using business-type knowledge to get through each week. By writing memos, doing charts and working together as a team we are accomplishing something that cannot be accomplished by just one person."

To donate to Team Helping Hands you can contact Hillary Anderson at hianderson@tamu.edu or visit www.hisgracefoundation.com

You can help the SAVVY seven team by volunteering at The Children's Museum, at (979) 779-5437 or online at http://www.mymuseum.com.