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Each semester, members of Professor Jack Burns' Leadership Studies class, LS 350, participate in projects that help fund worthy causes. The students come up with the projects, take care of all the particulars, and raise as much money as they can for the organizations to which they've pledged the proceeds. Last spring, Burns' class decided to support three projects through Christian Veterinary Mission, which sponsors a variety of programs around the world – some related directly to veterinary work and others coordinated by veterinarian missionaries who work with indigenous groups and missions. The projects included land acquisition for a vocational school for Honduran street kids, funding for a mobile vet clinic in Mongolia, and startup and development money for a school in Ethiopia. And the students' fund-raising total of $12,550.58 was more than double the previous LS 350 record. (The land-acquisition project was eventually funded in full by an American visitor to Honduras, and the funds raised for that project were split between the Ethiopian and Mongolian missions.)
The students' activities were varied, Burns says: "They sponsored a fast, they did a great deal of direct solicitation of family and friends, and they even raised $4,000 from Whitworth trustees who heard their devotions at the spring trustee meeting and wanted to help with their projects." Whitworth students also donated nearly $3,000 in funds that were left on their meal cards at the end of the year.
Even Burns, who oversees the conception and planning of these student projects each year, was surprised by the amount of money the students raised. "Our previous LS 350 record was just over $5,000," he says, "and our average is around $3,000. What can I say? This has been an amazing journey."
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