With their first community service project under their belts, Undergraduate Advisor Omar Brown’s First Year Success Seminar class (CBT 111) earns the respect of the Commerce Community, and raises money for the Relay For Life charity event scheduled for the fall.
On Sept. 29 from noon to 5 p.m., students in Brown’s CBT 111 class participated in a charity car wash in the McDonalds parking lot, raising a total of $309 for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.
“I think it allowed my students to see that the community is willing to give back to society as long as someone is willing to take up the torch and actually do something charitable,” Brown said. “But it was because people were willing to donate money to such philanthropic organization such as the American Cancer Society through Relay For Life.”
According to Brown, all students involved feel that the car wash was a success, and are now considering forming a team for the upcoming Relay for Life event, which will take place beyond the tenure of the eight-week course.
“That speaks volume in regards to the character of the students. I do hope that others will be able to see the relevance and impact that whether it is individually, or as a small group we can make a difference in our community,” Brown said.
In charge of putting the event together was undergraduate Neal Mack, who organized the day with the help of undergraduate Jade Kaisler.
Students played different roles in making the car wash a success throughout the day.
Some were in charge of promotion and advertising, marketing, record-keeping, logistics, set-up and break-down, car washing, designing certificates, and others acted as sound boards.
Some students played numerous roles and had several responsibilities. All job assignments were based primarily on a voluntary basis.
“Other students did play integral roles, but these were the ones who actually stuck out by going above and beyond to give back to the community,” Brown said.
The CBT 111 class itself is an eight-week course in which each section is expected to develop a service project as a requirement for the Bizteknia component of the course.
“There is a component of all CBT 111 courses that is designed to get students more involved in academic, cultural, social, and community service events to make them more well-rounded and cultured,” Brown said. “This component is known as Bizteknia, with different levels such as tribe, colony, and community, which is based on points. All of the CBT 111 classes are now at the community level.”
Overall, the car wash’s success seemed to be universal among all the students who put Saturday’s worth of work into it.
” I believe we did well because we made more than our target amount which might not be much but we will be able to help someone,” undergraduate Trey Neal said.