Holland College | College students raise money for local charity
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College students raise money for local charity

The Holland College Student Association and the Holland College Student Union raised $1,600 recently for Stars for Life Foundation, a not-for-profit that supports children with autism spectrum disorder.

The fundraising efforts were spearheaded by Retail Business Management and Business Administration student Matt McKenna, who saw the opportunity to help out in the community and pulled the resources of the student union and the student association together to do it.

“There were opportunities to do good things with the human resources we had at those student association meetings,” he explained. “We did some brainstorming and came up with some simple ideas that, with a bit of effort, paid off quite well.”

The money came by way of a three phase fundraising drive that included a 50/50 draw, a gift basket draw, and a Christmas dance.

Association members took turns for two weeks selling tickets for the 50/50 draw and the gift basket, which was comprised of donations from the various college programs.

“Having such a tight knit college definitely helps, as people jumped on board quickly, especially in the holiday season,” McKenna said.  “Everybody wants to do their part; you just have to give them an outlet.” In total, the draw and the gift basket raised $600 in two weeks.

The last phase of the fundraising efforts was a Christmas dance. McKenna said this posed the greatest challenge.

“There were a lot of hoops to jump through to get the dance off the ground and make it a success. We had to cut a lot of the fat to make it profitable yet still give the students a good time.”

The dance, which lost money the previous two years, turned a $1,000 profit to add to the $600 already raised for the Stars for Life Foundation.

“We chose Stars for Life because autism can affect people of all ages, directly or indirectly, including students. We knew that part of the foundation’s mandate was to help autistic people achieve a solid education and gain independence, and we saw that as a worthy cause,” McKenna explained.

McKenna is in his second year of business studies at Holland College and will be graduating in May with diplomas in both Retail Business Management and Business Administration. He is actively involved in the student association, is a student representative on the Holland College Board of Governors and is a student leader on the college's fundraising campaign cabinet. He is also a member of the Hurricanes Men’s Basketball team.

For more information about this release, please contact:
Sara Underwood, Media and Communications Officer
Tel: 902-566-9695
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009