By Adrienne Babbitt
Business students are helping the Red Cross manage business relations in preparations for the Olympics.
In conjunction with the Jacobsen Center for Service and Learning, the student groups are using their classroom knowledge to solicit the help of local businesses and schools.
They will provide necessary supplies and services needed for the Red Cross to prepare for possible disasters during the Olympics, said Karen Stuart, the Mountain Valley Chapter emergency services director.
“We couldn”t do it without them,” Stuart said. The coordination with these local businesses would take the Red Cross over six months, she said.
Student groups are still in the process of carrying out the projects.
Twelve student groups are managing various projects for the Red Cross, she said.
Some are working with local restaurants to donate food for volunteers working long shifts at Olympic hospitality shelters, Stuart said.
Other groups are making agreements with local business to make food and goods donations incase a disaster at the Olympics occurs, she said.
Dan Vetter, 23, a senior from Kaysville, Davis County, majoring in accounting, is working with a group in obtaining donations of bedding and towels so volunteers working long hours can sleep in a facility next to the hospitality center.
“The supplies will be used during the Olympics, but will then go back to the Red Cross for future needs,” Vetter said.
Students perform service as a class requirement and are graded on their performance, he said.
“We actually get some communication and some feedback on what we”ve done. With a case study all you get back is grades. Here you get the satisfaction out of it,” said Angela Yamashita, 21, a senior from Bethesda, Md, majoring in information systems.
“Service learning makes a lot of sense,” Vetter said. “It gives us experience in real world fund raising process, and at the same time, it helps the community.”
Students interested in other service learning opportunities or volunteering for the Red Cross can contact the Jacobsen Center for Service and Learning or the Mountain Valley Red Cross Chapter.
