Department Spotlight

Where Business and Beds Meet:
Whitworth Students Collaborate to Boost World Relief's Donated Inventory

When eight Whitworth students weren't hitting the books last fall for their Introduction to Business and Management class, they were tracking down beds and lamps for World Relief, a non-profit international organization that helps ease refugees' transition to the United States.

More than 60 Whitworth students in the business class put their book smarts to work by taking part in service-learning projects with Spokane organizations including World Relief, Avista Green Thumbs Community Garden, Market Street Market, Youth for Christ, Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest, and Skils’kin, an organization that helps people with disabilities find employment.

The World Relief student-volunteers faced formidable obstacles when they first teamed with the organization.

"Our warehouse was almost totally depleted of beds as well as many other needed items for refugees arriving in Spokane," says Jan Monroe, volunteer coordinator at World Relief Spokane. "We were also facing a large number of new families who would arrive by early December."

The students divided their team into four pairs to maximize developing donations contacts. One pair obtained furniture donations from area hotels; another pair secured mattress donations; a third arranged transportation from the donation sites to the World Relief warehouse; the fourth pair solicited donated household items.

The contacts the students made led to the donations of 36 queen-mattress sets, 40 lamp stands, and free transportation to move the items from the donors to the World Relief warehouse.

"This project helped me realize that I am very blessed with wealth and skills that I can use to benefit people who truly need assistance," says Mark Baker, '09. "Our group's initial failures helped motivate us to give our best efforts, which enabled us to successfully acquire valuable resources for World Relief."

In addition to re-stocking the warehouse with donated goods , the students created a sustainable donation system by developing a calendar for World Relief that outlined when certain companies or stores were able to make donations throughout the year. The students also went grocery shopping for an incoming Turkish family and helped arrange furniture in their apartment.

"The success these students achieved without a budget is astounding ," says Jacob Spaun , program assistant for Whitworth’s Center for Service-Learning. "The ripple effect of their efforts will no doubt be felt by many. The students should be proud of their creative and productive work to support refugees hoping to begin a new life in Spokane."

"We are so grateful to the Whitworth students for their time and effort on behalf of all our refugees and overworked staff ," Monroe says. "God provided them at just the right time and they met the need."

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