By Alex Sorrells / The Jambar
Students in the Sokolov Honors College fundraised $10,000, which was donated to United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.
Presley Bowser, associate director of Sokolov Honors College, said the honors student trustees began fundraising during the summer, with an honors class contributing during the fall semester.
“Honors trustees, they did a lot over the summer and in the fall semester, and then we also had, in the fall, a project in our introduction to honors class,” Bowser said. “We put them in groups in this class and they got to choose whatever fundraiser they wanted to do.”
Bowser said the honors college does a variety of volunteer work with United Way including Satur-Day of Caring, a food-donation program hosted by United Way. This program delivers food to 350 households, taking place every third Saturday of the month.
“They have Success After 6, they have Satur-Day of Caring, so they kind of touch a lot of different bases,” Bowser said. “For our students who come from different majors and different backgrounds, they can kind of get some real-life experience.”
Bob Hannon, president of United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, said young people are important to sustain the foundation’s future.
“The dollars are important because we need money to do the work, but those students will be the next generation of leaders,” Hannon said. “10 years from now, those are the kind of people we’re going to want to be on the board of United Way.”
The honors college has worked with United Way in the past, volunteering for after-school programs. Hannon said he was impressed with the donation and gave credit to the students who put it together.
“They’ve done a lot of work with us on volunteerism, some work in our programs. This is the first time they’ve done a huge fundraiser like this,” Hannon said. “$10,000. I give them a lot of credit. I think we need to learn from them on some of their fundraising strategies.”
To raise money, honors students spent the summer painting Youngstown State University designs on local driveways, as well as partnering with local restaurants. Bowser said students volunteered despite the weather conditions.
“As you go through the different towns that are local, you can see the [YSU logo], the Penguins, and they did that all summer long. In the rain, sometimes in the heat,” Bowser said. “They did a lot of food fundraisers, so they partnered with different local restaurants.”
Hannon credits a close relationship with YSU in its ability to give back to the community.
“From Johnson all the way down to the students, we would never be able to fulfill our mission and do the work we do without a full-blown, full-fledged partnership with YSU,” Hannon said. “We have that, and we’re very lucky to have that.”
Hannon said the best way to learn more is by visiting the United Way office at 255 Watt St.
“We have people come in and visit. ‘I want to know what you do,’ and then ‘I want to see that food distribution. I want to see your after-school program,’” Hannon said. “So people are more than welcome to come see our work in action.”