Smith Undergrads Help College Park Community

The Smith Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, is working hard to be involved with their community members.

This semester, SUSA, an umbrella organization that has 24 clubs within it, has participated or will be participating in several community-oriented events such as a canned food drive, Relay For Life of University of Maryland and a Dance Marathon.

“People sometimes think that business students are only concerned about making money and getting ahead, but that hasn't been my experience at all,” said SUSA advisor Dave Wilmes. “I have found that students at Smith are concerned about social issues such as the environment, local hunger, and public health. Every semester I hear great stories about how Smith students have positively impacted the larger community. And many times they are able to bring business principles to this work enhancing the world we live in while building their own professional skill.”

This semester alone, SUSA has participated or will be participating in the following events:

• College Park Food Bank Canned Food Drive
• Relay For Life of University of Maryland
• Serve DC
• Dance Marathon
• Project Make [it] count

Other small events have taken place in the organization as well.

SUSA president Chris Corragio said he and his fellow Smith School students recognize the need to participate in community service events.

“Businesses have a responsibility to their communities,” Corragio said. “The sale of their products affects society at large. Because businesses influence society they have a responsibility to society.”

College Park Food Bank Canned Food Drive

SUSA organized an event for its clubs to compete against one another while helping out the local College Park community. Clubs collected cans to donate to the College Park Community Food Bank, which has struggled each month collecting food because of the recession.

They haven’t had to turn families away yet, according to College Park Community Food Bank organizer Thom Lourim, but each month supplies dwindle down low enough to make it a constant worry for the food bank.

“We buy our own stuff each month and rely heavily on donations,” Lourim said. “Food wise, we need almost anything – cereal, peanut butter, pasta.”

The SUSA clubs came through for the food bank, donating more than 130 cans to Lourim and his crew.

Lourim said he is thankful for helps of University of Maryland students: “Students come help set everything up. We need the manpower and the energy level because we want to venture forth into other areas,” he said. “We are always looking for new ideas of things we can do. … We’ve gotten a lot of support, thank goodness.”

The SUSA Club that donated the most canned goods received a $30 stipend to make a new club banner or to fund office supplies for their club.

Relay For Life of University of Maryland

The University of Maryland host’s a Relay For Life event each year on the campus. This year, Relay took place on April 17 to 18. Students and community members alike formed 197 teams, comprised of 1,757 individuals, and raised $129,564.14.

SUSA had a team in the Relay and raised about $125, according to Corragio. Alpha Kappa Psi, a business fraternity on the campus, also had a separate team at Relay.

The event, hosted by the American Cancer Society, lasted overnight – because cancer never sleeps – and took place on Ludwig Field. Participating teams have at least one team member walking around the field at all times.

Serve DC

On April 24, SUSA members will trek down to our Nation’s Capital to help clean up the National Mall through the Serve DC program as part of Global Youth Service Day (GYSD).

According to the Serve DC website, GYSD began in 1988 and “is the largest service event in the world and is now celebrated in over 100 countries. On GYSD, children and youth address the world’s most critical issues in partnership with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, businesses and governments.”

Fifteen students are participating in this community service event. A $25 donation was given by each member to participate in the event, raising $375 to help clean up D.C. and fortify the university’s relationship with our nearby neighbors.

“We’ll be going to the National Mall and well be working on grounds keeping – beautifying the Mall,” Corragio said.

Dance Marathon

Later on April 24, SUSA members will participate in another charity event: Dance Marathon in Cole Field House. The event involves students dancing all night long, student entertainment groups performing, poker tables, ping pong, and more.

According to its website, “Dance Marathon is the largest collegiate philanthropic event in the country, and this year the University of Maryland will participate in this miraculous event! Dance Marathon at Maryland will benefit Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. 100 percent of the funds raised at Dance Marathon will benefit the emergent care fund at Children's National, ensuring that children from our area will continue to receive world class care regardless of their ability to pay. … Dance Marathon will last 18 hours and 56 minutes, as the University of Maryland was founded in 1856, beginning Saturday April 24 at 4 p.m. and ending Sunday April 25 at 10:56 a.m.“

SUSA has a team of 10 people participating in this overnight event.

Matthew Young, a senior government and politics major and Dance Marathon Organizer said the event is really important for the campus community: “The incredible diversity and number of people on our campus make it an ideal location for community service events because there are so many motivated individuals that want to work towards creating a culture of philanthropy. By working together towards a common goal they can have an extraordinary result. Dance Marathon, in its first year, is bringing together more then 500 people representing 50 different campus organizations. College campuses have tons of people that are looking for new ways to get involved, and with the right inspiration incredible things are possible.”

Project Make [it] count

According to Martin Szczepanik, a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity, Project Make [it] count is a student involvement project sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) that engages business students to work together to bring a community service idea to life.

“For our events, we decided to partner up with KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now) Greater DC, an organization dedicated to helping mentally challenged children and young adults to have fun in noncompetitive sports activities,” Szczepanik explained.

“We have two separate weekends where we hosted events at the Stamp Student Union for these mentally challenged athletes and their parents,” he continued. “We hosted bowling and arts and crafts on April 10 and we will be doing the same on May 8. The event on the 10th was a tremendous success and we are hoping the same for the 8th.”

Wilmes said he is especially proud of SUSA students for their diligent community service efforts this semester: “SUSA has had a long tradition of giving back to the community at large, but this is the first time we've had so many community service events taking place in the span of three weeks,” he said. “The leadership has done an amazing job getting people on board with these opportunities. They have been tirelessly promoting each of these events at every chance they get. From tabling to meeting announcements, they have worked hard at getting a critical mass of undergraduate business students to participate.”

For more information on any SUSA community services events, become a fan of the organization on Facebook, contact Dave Wilmes or Chris Corragio.

Jessica Bauer, Intern, Office of Marketing Communications