By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
With graduation in the offing, a class of BGSU students presented gifts to the Bowling Green community.
For the fourth year, students in the Nonprofit Management and Leadership course taught by Dr Abhishek Bhati provided grants to community non-profits.
As in past years the students in the class were responsible for all aspects of the From Students, For Community (S4C) project. They raised the money and solicited grant requests, and then decided to whom to the money would go.
Bhati said that he could simply lecture the students how this is done, but it is much more effective to take on the tasks themselves.
The university, said Abigail Dennis, a junior in the class. provides no money, though faculty and administrators including Dean of Arts and Sciences Ellen Schendel do contribute. The students also donate to the effort.
“Everything we give out is raised just from our class,” she said. “The goal was simple: Raise money for local nonprofits and make sure the entire process is student led.”
“The students are the real deal here,” Bhati said.
There were challenges. The funds were not flowing in at the rate they wanted. In part this was because there were only nine students enrolled in the course, compared to 17 year ago. Still they set a higher goal of $3,300 for themselves.
“It wasn’t the easiest this year,” Dennis said. “We had to get a little bit creative with it.”
They delivered candy grams and roses on Valentine’s Day. They partnered with the local Dairy Queen on a fundraiser. They hosted a trivia night at Red Sky Pizza, and even hosted a contest among the faculty, to see who could hit a punching bag the hardest.
In the end they were able to raise enough to fund three of the eight requests for proposals.
“We were tasked with determining which would create the most positive impact on our community,” said student Wolfgang Mann. “Each of these proposals sought to address important issues in our community, so it took us many steps in the process of selecting which ones we can fund.”
The students looked especially for community projects that addressed students’ needs or involved students.
The class had to seek information beyond what was initially provided in the applications in order “to make a fair decision,” Mann said. They also interviewed applicants.
The recipients were announced at a reception on May 1 at Arlyn’s Good Beer.
They were:
- BGO Pride,$1,195.
- BG SONG, $1,000.
- NAMI of Wood County, $1,173.
The funds for BGO Pride will go to help enhance the Pride Rally scheduled for June 28.
In announcing the award, student Emma Grevlich described BGO Pride as an organization dedicated increasing the visibility and amplify the voices of local LGBTQ+ community. The money will help pay for additional entertainment at the rally as well as heightening the marketing of the event.
The money, said student Rebecca Strack will support BG SONG’s “renters education program, which aims to empower renters, especially students, with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate housing challenges.”
The money will also go toward helping cover the cost of employing an intern to work with the group.
Though only launched in 2023, said student Zachary Noesen, BG SONG has already made its mark with initiatives including Rock the Block. That event brings together students and community members to help homeowners with home maintenance and yard projects.
Mann said that the grant to NAMI, the local chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. In Wood County, Mann said, NAMI services hundreds of individuals dealing with an array of mental health conditions as well as families looking for support.
The money, he said, will be used for peer programming and materials used during sessions.”
“They represent some of our strongest values, especially those of collaboration, accessibility, and inclusion,” Mann said.
In its four years S4C has benefited 11 organizations with a total of more than $18,000 in grants.
