It may not quite compare to the millions already pouring in from across the country, but a group of University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering students are hopeful the $192 they have raised for Haiti could aid relief and rebuilding in the country.
To earn the money, the six students turned a recent class project into something more far-reaching after the bombardment of news coverage following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country more than three weeks ago. So they molded an assignment for their Engineering Leadership and Entrepreneurship course, which tasked them to take ordinary Post-It notes and turn them into something of value, into a fundraiser for Haiti.
“It feels good,” said Kashif Solaija, a senior industrial engineering major, of the project following a formal presentation about their fundraiser during class. “We got a lot more value out of this than just completing an assignment for class. It really meant something to us, and we hope, the people of Haiti.”
The Post-It Challenge project was given by their instructor Kathy Zerda, instructional and research assistant professor, who was inspired by a similar assignment done at Stanford University. She challenged the 60 young minds in the 4000-level UH course—just as Stanford students were—to create value from a single stack of these brightly colored, sticky squares in just six days.
“The Post-It represented a seed of creativity,” said Zerda. “It was a license I gave them to be creative; to take something everyday and create value out of it.”
Beyond this, it was meant to be an introduction into the real-world where teamwork, budget constraints and hard deadlines drive many projects in industry, she said.
At the end of the sixth day, the projects presented were as unique as the individuals behind them. They ranged from addressing parking issues and reducing paper waste on campus to a project where students voiced their opinions about campus dining choices via Post-Its—later offering the feedback up to the targeted restaurants.
In another, students asked upperclassmen to write on a Post-It a single piece of advice to incoming freshman that they wish they had known when starting college. In the end, their Post-Its gave insight into locating discount textbooks, networking, workshops and professional societies. Their work continues on a page setup on the social networking site, Facebook, which displays the more than 60 pieces of advice collected and encourages more words of wisdom from veteran engineering students.
For the group raising money for Haiti, funds were collected via drop box in the department of electrical and computer engineering and through campus solicitations in just two days after earning the proper permission to fundraise from the university. Each donor was asked to write their names on a Post-It, so they could be recognized for the gift. Names were displayed on a board emblazoned with the words, “Post-Its for Haiti.”
The group plans to donate the $96, which they arranged to be matched by Chase Bank to bring their total to $192, to either UNICEF or the American Red Cross. They hope to increase this further with a few more trips around campus before sending the money to those in need on the island of Hispaniola.