Marketing Management Students Learn the Power of Paying It Forward

ASHLAND, Ohio – There’s nothing better on a cold, rainy November Sunday than a hot bowl of chili and the Cleveland Browns on the big screen TV.

At least that is what AU senior Cortney Carathers was hoping.

Carathers and her classmates from Chris Mahar’s marketing management course were getting a taste of philanthropy while giving a taste of some pretty fine chili to those who offered $5 to gain entry to the normally closed-on-Sunday A-Town Tap in downtown Ashland last month. The business, which employs Carathers, offered its facility for the event.

Eight cooks paid $15 each to enter their secret recipes -- including Greek chili, vegan fall chili, Grandma’s chili and bean and turkey chili – in hopes of being named the People’s Choice. “First place,” student Dimitri Herouvis noted proudly, “gets the Chili Cook-Off medal. It’s heavy.” Attendees got to vote for their favorite chili and nosh on some appetizers donated by A-Town for the event.

Proceeds from the cook-off – which eventually raised $500 – were earmarked for the Mansfield branch of Sertoma, an international nonprofit that provides hearing loss support and education. Carathers already was familiar with the organization through her membership in the Delta Zeta sorority. “We were just sort of brainstorming in class” for worthy nonprofits, she said, “and I think I shouted out Sertoma.”

Chris Herouvis, mom to Dimitri and a 1991 AU alumna, drove over from Massillon with a crock of vegan fall chili – a spicy blend of fire-roasted tomatoes, red onion, sweet potatoes, cannellini beans, and black beans. With her was her mother, Susan Fundom, who offered up a three-bean turkey chili.

They came to support the cause and to see Dimitri, who was part of one of four marketing management teams to participate in the capstone Pay It Forward project, which is an initiative of Ohio Campus Compact. Other teams worked with the Ashland YMCA, Ashland Parenting Plus (APP) and Ashland Church Community Emergency Shelter Services (ACCESS), according to Mahar.

This week, all four teams assembled for their wrap-up presentations and to announce how the $2,000 donated by AU trustee Ronald Alford would be divided.

That allocations process, involving three different funding options, sparked some heated debate. “I like how we fought for what we thought,” said Madison Hoehn, whose team worked with APP, which received $400 to advance its campaign for volunteers for its Court-Appointed Special Advocate program. Sertoma would receive $700 to offset the cost of bone conduction headsets, while the YMCA got $500 to be applied to the cost of gymnastics uniforms, and ACCESS received $400 to help underwrite the cost of cleaning its emergency shelter units.

“All four organizations are going to benefit,” Mahar said, “and then those organizations will benefit the community.”

The teams each put together an integrated marketing program for their nonprofit and either created a fundraiser or assisted with an existing event like the YMCA’s Fritter 5K.

In turn, the students learned the value of philanthropy in their community. “I liked learning from the other groups,” said Jessica Zaper, whose team chose APP. As a result of the Pay It Forward project, she said she has been inspired to help nonprofits beyond her time at AU. Amelia Snyder plans to go a step farther. After her experience with ACCESS, she said, she would like to start her own charitable organization.

The funds the students helped to both raise and to allocate will make a real difference in the community. “How many people are leaving here and going to sleep in their cars,” asked ACCESS representative Cathy Thiemens. “It’s easy to say you’re going to help, but this (AU) team really helped. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

AU Provost Amiel Jarstfer said he knows Pay It Forward is a lesson not soon forgotten. “I know that by doing this, you really embedded that in your memory, in your heart. I would encourage you to continue giving,” he said. “This is a very giving community, but as you’ve learned, it’s a community with needs.”

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.###