College of Business Administration

GROUP MEMBERS:

Cheryl Friedlan
Mike Patterson
Patricia Cruz
Jessica Williams
Alston Constran

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Our main objective was to develop a program that would carry into the future long after our participation was over. We came up with the idea of doing a food drive for the Thanksgiving holiday involving the A.V.I.D. classes at Montgomery High School (MHS). St. Vincent De Paul’s would be the recipient of the donations. We contacted Mrs. Schmerbauch, an Avid instructor, at M.H.S. and explained our project. Our intentions were to get the students involved by giving them an incentive for their donations. The A.V.I.D. instructors were willing to give the student credit for their participation in our food drive, which would help satisfy their graduation requirements. Mrs. Schmerbaugh thought it was a great idea. Our goal was for the A.V.I.D. classes to adopt this as an annual event.

Mrs. Schmerbaugh spoke with the other A.V.I.D. instructors and they all agreed to allow us to talk to the students to present the idea. Patricia, Cheryl and Jessica went to M.H.S. on September 19th and presented the idea to approximately ninety students. The presentations went well and the instructors encouraged the students to participate. The instructors also reiterated how lucky the students were to have a family and home to spend the holidays with and to think of those less fortunate.

After presenting the idea to the students and making arrangements with St. Vincent’s, our project was rejected by the A.V.I.D. instructors. The A.V.I.D. instructors met to discuss our presentation and they realized there was going to be an upcoming food drive put on by another on campus organization for Thanksgiving. The instructors did not want to diminish the already existing food drive by having students participate in ours.

After all the time invested in the food drive, we had to react fast with the project deadline drawing near. Emotional dissatisfaction took a toll on the group and brought our efforts to a halt, but only briefly. In group discussions we decided to divide tasks and see if we could salvage any of our project. However, there was nothing to be salvaged. It was time to start another project. Mike mentioned he had contacts at Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, so he spoke with them and Alston contacted the Veteran’s Affair office to see if there was anything we could do for them. Through Mike’s contacts we found out about an upcoming event and discussed what kind of assistance was needed. In response to Mike’s inquiries, the community relations officer for Barona, Dana Sass, asked for assistance with the Hope for the Holidays East County Toy Drive 2003.

The toy drive is to run from November 10, 2003 until December 4, 2003. It is a joint venture between Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino and Volunteers of America. All toys collected are to be picked up and distributed by Volunteers of America. Last years toy drive had dismal success due to lack of support and they needed our assistance to help improve this year’s outcome.

We attended a group meeting shortly afterward. At the meeting participants were given a list of areas in which assistance was needed. For our part, we were asked to draft media, request donations for raffle prizes and general assistance as needed. To date we have written letters, put up poster around the facility for employees to view and helped maintain donation bins.

In accomplishing our goals for this project we have struggled. Due to the recent fires, donations are again off target and monies are hard to come by. However, we do feel that with the donations we are receiving from vendors for the raffle, we will be able to increase employee contributions. Unfortunately since the toy drive ends on December 4th, there are no final numbers on the total amount of toys and money that have been collected. Our hope is that this years toy drive totals will be similar to last years drive. Though we would like to see that the numbers have increased, we understand that people’s attention has been focused on giving to families and individuals needing immediate assistance due to the recent wildfires. Our desire going forward is that, under “normal” circumstances, Barona will be able to use the input we provided this year towards future successful toy drives.