January 7, 2008 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/sife.htm
The Calvin chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) launched five
community projects during the fall semester, and now is getting ready for the
SIFE regional competition this March.
SIFE is a nonprofit organization which promotes free enterprise on college and
university campuses in over 40 countries around the world. The Calvin chapter
of SIFE, one of 950 in the United States, was founded three years ago.
SIFE at Calvin—like SIFE anywhere—is a student team that partners with
both major corporations and local organizations on community-development
projects targeting five educational goals: Market Economics, Success Skills,
Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Business Ethics.
“The SIFE teams on these campuses are free to base their project on the need
that’s in the community,” said Calvin senior and chapter president Keziah
Samuel. “Every one of our projects is needs based.”
A case in point is “Sense with Cents,” a project which featured SIFE
members teaching four weeks of financial literacy classes to residents of Grand
Rapids at North End Community Ministry. “Sense with Cents” was originally
created and taught by last year’s SIFE team in response to surveys they
conducted at the ministry. “We found that a lot of the people we surveyed
were in debt, and a lot of them didn’t know how to budget,” Samuel said.
Corporate sponsorship is integral to SIFE projects, said Samuel: “SIFE is
supported by over 200 donor companies—companies such as Walgreen’s, CVS,
Walmart—that you find in every community.” The corporate involvement also
has benefits for the SIFE teams, she said, because the sponsoring companies
offer full-time jobs and internships at several career fairs that they hold
throughout the year for SIFE members.
Other fall projects saw SIFE partner with United Church Outreach Ministries
(UCOM), teaching ex-offenders to write resumes, and develop a program called
“Bizkidz” at Hall Elementary School, teaching fourth through sixth
grader the basics of business.
During second semester, the group will concentrate on preparing for the SIFE
regional competition in March, 2008, but it’s not merely the zeal to win
driving them, Samuel insisted: “When you actually go and complete these
projects and see the smiles on your clients faces, it’s worth it all. I would
do it again in a heartbeat,” she said “When a client says to you: ‘Thank
you. I’ve learned something that will change my life,’ that’s the biggest
joy you get out of it.”
-end-
Received on Mon Jan 7 08:15:19 2008
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Mon Jan 07 2008 - 08:15:19 EST