{"id":5668,"date":"2006-01-01T13:21:37","date_gmt":"2006-01-01T17:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:04:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T21:04:49","slug":"largest-bba-weekend-fundraising-attempt-surpasses-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2006\/01\/largest-bba-weekend-fundraising-attempt-surpasses-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Largest BBA+ Weekend fundraising attempt surpasses goal."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n<\/span><\/strong>Ana Lorenzo and son<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When students in the BBA+ Weekend program in the College of Business Administration embarked on a journey to raise nearly $20,000 for Project Thrive, the Infant & Toddler Stimulation Program of ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens of South Florida), they weren\u2019t sure they\u2019d reach their goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like it could be very difficult,\u201d Xiomara M. Alfaro<\/strong>, who was in charge of marketing, said of the largest fundraising attempt ever mounted by members of the \u201cBusiness in Society\u201d class in the program. \u201cIt was a lot of money.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But through a number of fundraisers\u2014including raffles, lunches, and a flea market\u2014and the generous donations of companies and individuals, the effort netted more than $26,000. The money was destined for the purchase of specialized computer equipment to improve the educational and developmental chances for children with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonors qualified at various sponsorship levels from $250 up to $2,000 or more,\u201d said Ana Lorenzo<\/strong>, who along with class president Melanie G. Barnick,<\/strong> served as project leaders. \u201cOur success was also due to the incredible amount of work that everyone in the cohort put into the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By mid-December, the Project Thrive center in West Kendall had installed the computers in its classrooms. The cohort members, a number of donors, the director of Project Thrive at the site, and the director of ARC South Florida attended a special ceremony, which included a tour of the facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the children at the computers was amazing,\u201d Alfaro said.<\/p>\n

Each BBA+ Weekend cohort undertakes a community service project, selecting from options presented by group members. Lorenzo made the successful pitch for the ARC project, which the cohort named \u201cSpark for ARC.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI visited the West Kendall center and found out from the teachers exactly what they would need, then determined what it would cost, and included those details in my presentation,\u201d she said. \u201cTo get one computer for each of the seven classrooms would come to $19,460, which became our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lorenzo\u2019s son is a student at the center and though he can control a standard mouse, she was aware that not everyone could.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would see my son working at the regular computer, but noticed that other children in the class weren\u2019t able to,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized that specialized equipment could make a big difference in the kids\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The units, including special software, have been designed to meet all the needs of these young learners. They come with a small mouse; touch screens; and special sight, sound, control, and durability features. The center will use the surplus funds to purchase additional software and other options\u2014such as adaptors for children with physical disabilities\u2014for the systems now in place.<\/p>\n

The experience also made a big difference in the lives of the members of the BBA+ Weekend group. They have decided to get together and do a yearly project, even after they graduate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned that there are many organizations that need help,\u201d Lorenzo said. \u201cNow we have the tools in our hands to do provide that help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ana Lorenzo and son When students in the BBA+ Weekend program in the College of Business Administration embarked on a journey to raise nearly $20,000 for Project Thrive, the Infant & Toddler Stimulation Program of ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens of South Florida), they weren\u2019t sure they\u2019d reach their goal. \u201cIt seemed like it could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,13],"tags":[85,165,474,965,1846,2157],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24477,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions\/24477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}