This week I want to share with you the story of two students from Seton Hill University who raised money for our Buy a Brick Campaign.  Please take a minute to read how Kelli Alfieri and Lauren Sciacca are Breaking the Cycle of Poverty.

The Communication Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, has created an academic curriculum that assists in the holistic growth of the individual learner, enhancing the intellectual, emotional, social, psychological, and spiritual person with the professional communication knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary to become an agent of change in a diverse and evolving world.  And part of that development is the practical application of learned theories and skills to professional world experience and growth.  To help achieve these objectives, the Program fosters and supports the Communication Club at Seton Hill.  

 

The Program also reflects the traditions of Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity who established the school and received a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1918.  The University educates students to think and act critically, creatively, and ethically as productive members of society committed to transforming the world through community involvement.

 

As part of the club's Community Outreach Initiatives, Dr. Frank Klapak, Professor in the Communication Program and advisor to the Communication Club, challenged the students to design and develop innovative, entrepreneurial, and appropriate ventures that would meet the physical, social, spiritual, or emotional needs of a specific community, and provide support and a lasting effect for the individuals of that community.  These projects might include fundraising, volunteerism and public service, partnerships and affiliations, and grassroots community projects, at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

 

One such effort designed by sophomores Kelli Alfieri and Lauren Sciacca is Mission ImPROMible
to support Mission Honduras International (MHI) and their efforts to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.  The students were drawn specifically to the Liberia Mission initiative of MHI, to buy a brick to build a new school building and classrooms.

  

Kelli and Lauren organized a team, solicited new designer prom gowns from local retailers, and held two gown sales, one last fall, and one this spring.  The students, using their public relations skills, worked with the PR department of the University on promotion, marketed the events on a Facebook site, wrote letters to high school counselors, posted flyers at local businesses, and set aside a full weekend for each sale.  Other students also volunteered their time and energy to support the Mission.  The students organized the gowns by size, set aside fitting rooms, provided consultation and fitting services, and recorded each sale by adding a paper brick to the large "school" building designed to monitor their progress.  As the number of gowns dwindled, the school building filled in.

 

At the fall sale, the students raised $2,000.00, and at this spring's sale just completed, the students raised another $3,000.00.  Kelli and Lauren and the team will hold future sales next year, and the Communication Club is planning other project in support of MHI and Liberia Mission.

Bob O'Dwyer
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Mission Honduras International