Booster Funds Awarded to Do Good Challenge Competitors

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Jan. 30, 2015) Organizers of the University of Maryland’s Do Good Challenge have announced “Do Good Booster Fund” recipients for this year’s competition.

Eighteen promising UMD student groups, who will compete this spring in the 2015 challenge, received a combined total of more than $7,000 in seed funding to jump-start their projects and ventures. These students recently pitched their Do Good ideas – targeting a social cause – to a panel of judges for a chance to receive between $100-$500 and mentorship from campus experts in philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. The awardees are:

Bring Leo Home:  The Bring Leo Home Fund will raise funds to help orphaned children find families and meet the basic needs of children who have not yet been adopted. Booster funding will be used to purchase ingredients for fundraisers, such as an “all-you-can-eat” pancake night.

Building Tomorrow: This student group will organize a 3-day campus event in which participants will bike the equivalent of the distance between UMD and Uganda to raise funds for building schools in Uganda, raising awareness about the need for educational opportunities there. Booster Funding will help Building Tomorrow acquire the materials they need to develop their marketing and fundraising strategies for the spring event.

Comfort Crates: The aim of Comfort Crates is to create and distribute individualized care packages for injured military service members. Booster Funding will enable the team to purchase the materials needed to create a Comfort Crate prototype.

Family Crisis Center: Students in the Department of Psychology have formed a team to support the Family Crisis Center of Prince George’s County, which aids abused women and their children. Booster Funding will be used to develop an informational video to jump-start the group’s fundraising efforts.

Graduate Students in Public Health:  This student group aims to develop health interventions like nutrition classes and physical activities for more than 3,000 children who have recently immigrated to Maryland from Central America. Booster Funds will be used to produce workbooks that get kids excited to learn about health.

Hungry Harvest:  By selling surplus fruits and vegetables to consumers at bargain prices, this local produce delivery service reduces food waste, feeds hungry families and supports local farmers. Booster Funding will help the group create flyers and digital advertisements to kick-start its marketing campaign.

K. Sultana:  This social business employs homeless Muslim women at a Baltimore shelter to sell its unique headscarves designed for women’s comfort. Proceeds support women’s entrepreneurship and skill-building initiatives in developing countries. Booster Funding will help the team launch its plan to scale this model and raise awareness of its brand.

Lea(r)n Lab: Lea(r)n Lab provides student-to-student mentorship for those interested in learning about digital creation, helping students create their own websites, videos and more. Booster Funding will support prototypes of Lea(r)n Lab events, including a mini “hackathon” for people to demonstrate their projects and a productivity “hacktorial.”

Libros Sobre Ruedas: What began as an initiative to bring mobile libraries to children in El Salvador has become an organization that advocates for El Salvador’s schools and works to connect them to resources. Booster Funding will purchase supplies needed to host a 5K fundraising event on campus.

Puzzable: This innovative app seeks to create social value through gaming. Users generate funds for charitable organizations by completing puzzles on their phones. Booster Funding will be used to expand the app.

Rafiki Beads: Rafiki Beads is a student-founded social enterprise that sells beaded jewelry and accessories hand-made by women in the Maasai tribe in Kenya. Booster Funding will support the purchase of the raw materials necessary for development and testing of a signature Rafiki Beads product.

Relay for Life:  The UMD chapter of Relay for Life will host events throughout the Do Good Challenge to raise funds and recruit students to participate in Relay for Life, a 12-hour walking event sponsored by The American Cancer Society and Colleges Against Cancer. Booster Funding will support fundraising efforts, which will feature games, music and food.

SigEp “Take a Shot at Life” Campaign: The Sigma Phi Epsilon Maryland Beta chapter at the University of Maryland has pledged to raise $25,000 by 2017 for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Booster Funding will help purchase supplies for SigEp’s semi-annual NICU Reunion, which invites former patients to return to the hospital to participate in fun, therapeutic carnival activities.

Terps Against Hunger: UMD students will host a major food-packaging event on campus to inspire students to think about world hunger and empower them to help combat it. Booster Funding will enable the group to run training events in anticipation of a campus-wide event to package 250,000 meals.

UMD Global Dental Brigades: The UMD chapter of Global Dental Brigades (GDB) brings student volunteers to Honduras to provide dental care for people who would not otherwise receive it. Booster Funding will allow the team to acquire supplies for its fundraising events, including a 5K and sales of fun new products like UMD-themed mittens.

Venture U: The Venture U program teaches students in Uganda how to start and sustain their own businesses through a digital learning platform. Booster Funding will help the student team develop the full Venture U program, which will ultimately be implemented in schools in Uganda and possibly in the U.S.

Yolk’d: This student-founded social enterprise produces a healthy alternative to the harmful commercial protein powders available on the market. Booster Funding will help Yolk’d purchase marketing materials, like business cards, and items to sell, like tank tops.

These groups represent just 17 of many that will compete in the challenge, led by the School of Public Policy’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership and the Robert H. Smith School of Business’ Center for Social Value Creation. Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management is the lead sponsor.

To stay up-to-date on the challenge, go to:
Do Good Challenge Homepage: dogood.umd.edu
Facebook:  facebook.com/DoGoodChallenge
Twitter:  twitter.com/DoGoodChallenge

Contacts:
Arley Donovan, adonovan@umd.edu
Sara Herald, sherald@rhsmith.umd.edu