Student service collaborative donates to inner-city school

By Emily Williams, News Editor

Junior Glenn Trepeta was brainstorming fundraising ideas for the Multicultural Business Association when he had an idea -- what kind of difference could student organizations make if they combined their philanthropic efforts?

From that idea, Trepeta founded Collab-Donation this past fall, a fundraising organization composed of preexisting student groups.

"I realized our donation capacity as one organization could be maximized," Trepeta said.

Collab-Donation is made up of representatives from participating student organizations, who serve as communication points with the larger group. Each semester's proceeds benefit a different organization that the Collab-Donation members choose together.

By combining the fundraising efforts of nine student organizations over the course of this semester, Collab-Donation was able to donate $1,612 to the Cincinnati Tutoring Program at Roll Hill Elementary.

The semester's efforts culminated in a literacy event held last Thursday, April 28, at the Roll Hill Elementary School. There, the Miami students not only presented the school with their donation but also had the chance to interact with students in the Roll Hill after-school program.

Dara Jenkins, district-wide resource coordinator for tutoring at Cincinnati public schools, communicated with Trepeta every week leading up to the event. Jenkins said she was impressed by the organization and dedication of Trepeta and the other Miami students.

"It seemed like they were very passionate about working with inner-city youth," Jenkins said.

At the event, the children were divided into groups by grade level. These groups were led by Miami students, each of whom had their own book with a corresponding enrichment activity and set of vocabulary words.

Jenkins said the children loved working with the Collab-Donation members.

"The Miami students felt like celebrities," Jenkins said. "Some of the kids were even asking for their autographs."

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After the reading activity, the event moved to the gymnasium, where the Miami students played games like kickball and dodgeball with the kids. The children were all invited to take their books home, with a bookmark explaining the event, to share with their families.

Some of the Miami students who participated have already reached out to Jenkins about finding other opportunities to work with the inner-city students in Cincinnati. It's often easier for the children to relate to college students than older adults, Jenkins said, making events like this one so successful.

"You would be amazed how much a little gesture means to these kids," said Jenkins.

Trepeta said it was rewarding to see so much enthusiasm from the Roll Hill students.

"The kids were very appreciative of our contribution and every engaged," said Trepeta. "It was a very rewarding experience to see our semester-long efforts come to fruition."

The money donated by Collab-Donation was used to purchase the books and bookmarks for the event, and the remainder of the funds will be put toward the EPS Backpack Buddies program, a four-week program that helps children improve their reading and comprehension skills. At the end of the program, each student gets to take home a backpack, books and reading activities.

"We're not just trying to expand their literacy," said Jenkins. "We're also trying to develop their home library."

Trepeta said he and the Collab-Donation members felt that funding literacy efforts for underprivileged children would be a cause that all of the participants would want to support.

"I wanted to choose a cause that everybody would be able to get behind, so this merged children and education -- two causes that almost everyone is willing to support," said Trepeta.

In total, nine organizations contributed to the effort -- Alpha Phi Alpha, Black Student Action Association, Black Women Empowered, Love You Like a Sister, Miami University Gospel Singers, Multicultural Business Association, National Association of Black Accountants, National Society of Black Engineers and Sigma Lambda Gamma.

Each organization hosted their own fundraising events throughout the semester, some of which included a nacho sale at the Phi Delt gates, a Valentine's Day candy-gram fundraiser and a flag football tournament. Every Collab-Donation fundraising event used the hashtag #Students4Students to support their semester-long cause.

Carolyn Craig, faculty advisor for Collab-Donation, said she has been impressed with the level of dedication she has seen from Trepeta and the other students involved in the organization.

"It is great to see Miami students so committed to giving back to the community and making a difference," said Craig.

Trepeta said he and other members are looking forward to welcoming new organizations to Collab-Donation's efforts next semester. Collab-Donation will announce next semester's cause early in the fall.