AU Marketing students learn the value of paying it forward
05/05/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio – Two local nonprofits were the beneficiaries of two groups of Ashland University students’ foray into philanthropy
The Coffee Growing Community, the charitable arm of Goldberry Roasting Co., and No Pawz Left Behind, each received $1,000 this week, the outcome of the efforts of students in Dr. Chris Mahar’s Marketing Management class.
The funds will be used to defray the cost of an export license for coffee farmers in the Sierra Norte de Puebla region of Mexico to bring their product to the American market, while No Pawz Left Behind will provide dogs with needed medical care that can’t be funded by the Ashland County Dog Shelter.
It was all part of Pay It Forward, a program of the nonprofit Campus Compact Ohio, which engages college students in hands-on philanthropy, grant making and volunteer service. Funding for the Pay it Forward program at AU comes through the generosity of Board of Trustees member Ron Alford.
Delving into philanthropy during a global pandemic brought some interesting challenges to the students, according o Mahar, especially when it came to volunteer service hours. To that end, he said, each of the groups instead assisted their nonprofits through the institution of a social media account – Instagram for the Coffee Growing Community and Facebook for No Pawz Left Behind.
The Coffee Growing Community group – Stephanie Slader, Shayla Edmonson, Michaela Godfrey, Cece Dillon, Scout Weber and Kelseigh Wright – proved an invaluable source of ideas and help, according to Coffee Growing Community founder Doug Cooper. His organization, he said, is committed to more than just helping farmers produce a better product, but also to “help coffee growers with social, spiritual and economic development.”
And, he noted, looking at his all-female team of students, “One thing you know in Mexico, if you really want things to change, you have to get the women involved.”
Stateside, this group of women not only assisted with social media outreach, but also raised funds through a virtual Coffee Bingo event and a Coffee With a Cause promotion that featured discounts for Instagram followers, as well as a taste testing.
The first shipment from Mexico has made it to Ashland, and Cooper said having an export license will allow farmers to handle their own exporting. The $1,000 “probably won’t cover the whole thing,” Cooper said, “but it will get them far enough so they can get the export license themselves.”
No Pawz Left Behind President Michelle Sviatko said her organization recently found a puppy with an injured paw that will likely need surgery to repair. Those types of procedures are expensive and “the county doesn’t have the funds for that kind of treatment.” The money from the Pay It Forward project will help.
The AU team of Cortney Starr, Eric Price, Jacob Boerner, Jacob Williams and Sam Putoff, busied themselves with a donation drive of items the nonprofit needed to keep its dogs comfortable and happy and instituted a Facebook page where adoptable dogs could be spotlighted. The organization also partners regularly with AU GIVS.
It felt good to help, said Boerner, “It’s really awesome to give dogs a second chance when they’ve been let down by their owners.”
Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###