Lessons learned outside classroom

Fellow Cougars and friends of management and marketing senior Edith Campos gathered at the Galleria on Sunday to attend an exclusive shopping party to raise money for Charity Water, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring clean and safe water to every person on the planet.

Campos said she became aware of the world’s water crisis through her professional selling professor, Jeff Boichuk. She wanted to make a difference and decided on Oct. 1 to start her own campaign to become part of the solution.

Her campaign, coined “Be A Hero,” aims to raise $5,000 to help build a water well in Orissa, India.

“I was really inspired by Charity Water’s mission and their vision. Every penny of the funds donated goes directly to their projects. Nothing goes to the office or employees,” Campos said. “The other neat thing about their charity is when they start using your money to help overseas, they send you GPS coordinates and pictures of exactly where your money is being used.”

Campos said she began to raise money by using social media. She created a Charity Water fundraising website as well as a Facebook page filled with inspiring pictures and links to get friends and family excited about making donations. Within the first few weeks, she raised $600. If she was to reach her goal by the end of summer 2014, she needed to reach out to local businesses for help.

“I decided to go to the Galleria and pop into a bunch of stores to see if they would be interested in helping me. I went in to Aldo and asked the manager if his store does anything to give back to the community,” Campos said. “I told him about my campaign. He loved the idea, and together, we came up with a plan.”

They created an exclusive shopping party with a guest list of 25 people that would take place after store hours. To go along with the theme, they had several different types of water, refreshments, raffles and goody bags. On top of that, guests received a 15 percent discount on each purchase, and that discount goes directly to the charity.

Boichuk went to the shopping party to see one of his students using her selling skills to make a change while being proactive about an important cause. He said his goal is to get all of the C.T. Bauer College of Business’ professional selling students to initiate their own campaigns and together raise $20,000.

“I see Charity Water as being the most innovative nonprofit. The way they approach the market is different from any other charity. They never ask for donations but instead try to inspire people,” Boichuk said. “They allow people to take their story, raise awareness and figure out their own way to help.”

Charity Water hits close to home for broadcast journalism senior Glenda Bonilla. She said she has seen many suffering from lack of clean water and was eager to help make a difference.

“My parents are from Central America, so I have seen the effects of this firsthand, and this is an amazing opportunity to help,” Bonilla said. “We are blessed to have so many luxuries in America, and donating money is something that we can do right now to help.”

Campos raised a total of $350 in on-the-spot donations at her event and will raise funds until her goal is reached. Donations can be made at my.charitywater.org/be-a-hero.

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