Weekend BBA class launches "Tools for Schools" campaign

FIU’s College of Business Administration Weekend BBA Class 13 initiated a “Tools for School” campaign as part of its civic engagement project. Their goal was to collect school supplies and cash donations to send more than 400 children to school the first day with book bags filled with supplies. Supplies were collected Aug. 16 and distribution was made at the Downtown Community Partnership for the Homeless Center on Aug. 21.

“The initiative began last year, and this is just one of a number of successful projects the undergraduate students have carried out,” said Bob Hogner, associate professor of Management and International Business. The students conceived of and facilitated the project in Hogner’s Business & Society course. “This is hands-on experiential learning. I like to call it the link between lives, livelihood and community."

The students raised more than $6,000 in funds plus supplies from a variety of sources, including their respective employers, Target and Publix.

“The little girl I'm carrying in the photo, Dayla, and her sister, who is also pictured, were so excited with their new book bags that they put them on and refused to take them off their backs,” said Ricardo Nelson Rios, one of the students who helped organize the drive. “Seeing the joy in both of these children’s eyes definitely made the entire effort given by each and every one of us worthwhile.”