Benedictine students score high marks for helping others

Hungry, homeless and poverty-stricken people in one of the most affluent areas in the state?

That news is difficult for many college students, who are often insulated from the grimmer realities of their immediate world, to comprehend. What is not as difficult, and what has become a rewarding experience for many, is implementing new and creative ways to help the less fortunate.

Students in Jane Crabtree’s organizational behavior classes and those in Linda Kanter’s management courses at Benedictine University are learning the four functions of business management—planning, organizing, leading and controlling—while organizing activities to benefit organizations such as the Woodridge Food Pantry, DuPage PADS and Illinois Support Our Troops.

During the fall 2010 semester, students supported Illinois Support Our Troops by collecting $1,205, $175 in gift cards and 2,211 pounds of donated items—everything from golf balls, toothbrushes and candy to 295 pairs of socks and 361 bags of caramel corn—and mailing them to military men and women serving overseas.

This semester, one group of students from Kanter’s Management 300 course is planning and organizing projects to benefit the West Suburban Community Pantry. The Pantry serves more than 750 families in Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Downers Grove, Elmhurst and surrounding communities. The pantry provides food, personal care items, baby and school supplies, child safety items and free car seats, and holds nutritional classes.

The group learned that the pantry, as a 501(c)(3) organization, can buy a ton of food for $360. Therefore the group made fundraising rather than food collection its main focus, and helping others its ultimate goal.

The project has benefited Kanter’s students almost as much as the charitable organizations in the area, she said. This type of work demonstrates the Benedictine values of living in community and stewardship, which adds to the University's commitment of teaching students to be socially responsible leaders. The project also helps students feel better about themselves.

People who are interested in supporting the students’ project to help the West Suburban Community Pantry can call the pantry at 630-512-9221 or visit its Web site,  wcpinc.org.