As part of its outreach efforts, LSBE held a Week of Service in April that provided volunteer service to community organizations and nonperishable food to UMD students in need.
The service event actually encompassed more than two weeks where LSBE students, staff, and faculty could participate in a variety of service activities. Volunteers prepared and served meals at Damiano Center and packed bags of food for donation at Second Harvest Food Bank. In total, more than 70 hours of community service were completed with more than 175 meals prepared and served and 490 bags of food packaged!
“It's important to get out in the community and lend a hand when needed,” said Logan Treptau, a junior majoring in Financial Planning. “I'm glad that LSBE was able to provide an easy opportunity for me to volunteer at Second Harvest. All I had to do was show up, and they put me to work!”
“I found fulfillment in every aspect of volunteering at Damiano Center,” said Kai Lin, a senior with a double major in MIS and Business Analytics. “It was heartening to contribute to the community in a meaningful way and to witness the impact our efforts had on those we served. The LSBE Week of Service is invaluable in fostering social impact and ethical engagement.
“Programs like this provide opportunities for students to give back to society and make a difference in the lives of others. Personally, my experience at the soup kitchen reinforced the importance of compassion and solidarity in building a better community.”
The last week of the event was a food drive to support UMD students in need. Anyone could bring nonperishable food items to the LSBE atrium that would then go to Champ’s Cupboard, the UMD food pantry, at the end of the event. An amazing total of 439 pounds of food was donated! (The UMD Student Life office officially weighed LSBE’s food contribution.)
“I’m so grateful to all the members of LSBE’s Outreach Committee for helping to coordinate this year’s Week of Service,” said Monica Haynes, chair of the committee and director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “A lot of planning and coordination went into the week event, and everyone pitched in to make sure it was a success!”
Additionally, LSBE student Julia Lee, a senior Health Care Management major, and Kim Dauner, associate professor of Health Care Management, organized a Medication Take-Back event to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible way of disposing of prescription and household medications. In conjunction with the UMD police department, Lee collected approximately 10 pounds of medications.
The number of hours spent volunteering or the number of food items a person donated allowed them the opportunity to cast votes for any of thirteen faculty and staff members to be pied at the culmination of the Week of Service. The eight people with the most votes were pied.
Those were Interim Dean Praveen Aggarwal, Associate Dean Jannifer David, Assistant Professor of Business Law Brian Lukasavitz, LSBE Development Director Suzanne Anderson, Assistant Professor of Marketing Matthew Lunde, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Jonathan Lee, Dauner, and Haynes. Student athlete Matthew Thiessen, Marketing major and a member of the men’s hockey team, was called to in to be pied as well.
Also participating but not earning enough votes to be pied were Professional Advisor Anna Greshowak, Professional Sales Program Director Jessica Gardener, Instructor of Production and Operations Management Gary Poelma, and Instructor of Economics Protik Nandy.
Photo: (left) Suzanne Anderson, Brian Lukasavitz, Interim Dean Praveen Aggarwal, Kim Dauner, and Matthew Lunde