October 14, 2010
Details are coming into place for fundraising, trips and Make a Difference Day in the Engineers Without Borders meetings.
The EWB Make a Difference Day group has been solidified for Saturday and will be working at Lake Wedington. There are still a few possible projects they will be assigned to: Illinois Watershed on Lake Wedington; giving canoeing lessons; water quality monitoring or geo-caching.
Water quality “is not as glamorous (as giving canoeing lessons), but is still fun,” said Nikki Lorenz, EWB president.
A casual social gathering is planned for 5:30 p.m. this Monday, October 25, at Gusano’s on Wedington. Those attending are welcome to meet in the Bell parking lot at 5 p.m. to carpool.
The Engineers Without Borders benefit Bake Sale is 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on October 22 in front of the Arkansas Union.
Shortly following next Wednesday’s meeting (October 20) members should expect to make a group supply run for baking ingredients. The actual bake-off will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, October 21, at EWB Secretary Jenny Doyle’s house.
Members attending the EWB Regional Conference on November 12-14 in Dallas should be expected to pay 14 dollars and an additional sum for gas; an approximate total of 35 dollars. So far, the final count for the trip is 10 members, but if you’re going and haven’t contacted officers, do so as soon as possible.
A few EWB members are actively researching various approaches to fundraising.
Lorenz called a few members to meet with a professor, who advised delaying the requests for company donations and instead focus on Honors College and other department funding.
Other members are working on creating a promotion letter. One member spoke to Chik-fil-A employees about the Thursday donations. Essentially, the group can post a flyer and if the customer decides to donate, then 10 percent of the order total goes to EWB. Since the offer is available only once a week, Chik-fil-A is booked until January, so EWB officers are reserving a donation Thursday for January 2011.
In the future, there will be a coordination meeting for EWB members that are most interested in being fundraising representatives for the team.
The dates and trip cost for the first Belize trip (during winter break) have been solidified.
The expected travel dates are January 10-15, with a cost of $1400 per person. Below is the approximate break down of that cost: $50/person for gas (the group will have a bus to use in Belize), $100 trip to island; $600-800 plane ticket; $150 travel insurance; $200ish for supplies.
For more information, there is a Belize Trip Meeting at 5 p.m. today (October 14) in the Civil Engineering Lounge. If you’re planning to make this trip, you must either attend the meeting or email the International Project Chair, Ben Marts at bmarts@uark.edu.
Other service project ideas were brought to the table:
President Lorenz has a list of engineering projects (mostly concerning sustainability and water quality) to teach and engage elementary students in. The science club at Leverett Elementary School meets on Thursdays from 3-4:30 p.m. and is very enthusiastic about EWB involvement.
For starters, Lorenz said, “We could go and build a water filter to explain how it works and what it does.” Basically, the students could observe the making of the filter and the water at different quality levels.
The Stream Team has a stream cleanup session starting near Wilson Park on Scull Creek set for this Saturday, October 23.
Members are also considering bringing a speaker to the University this semester. Ken Breckinridge , Jimmy Bantchren, and the founder of the UA chapter of EWB, Julie Jones were all suggested. The final choices is yet to be decided.
Secretary Doyle raised a question of participation in the Alternative Holiday Gift Fair in the Union this winter. Professor Soerens suggested having people donate money in someone’s name, to enable EWB to buy supplies, such as pipes, for the Belize projects.
If you have other alternative gift ideas that would be relevant to EWB, bring them to the next meeting on October 20 or email an officer (nlorenz@uark.edu).
No comments:
Post a Comment