Informatics grad student making big waves with fundraising project
March 31, 2008
How can you clean out your closets, make a little money for yourself and help out a local charity? By participating in the Circle City Yard Sale, a city-wide fundraising event for Teachers’ Treasures, on April 25-27. The event is being organized by the Rotaract Club of Indiana University - Purdue University, Indianapolis, which will retain 10% of the fundraiser proceeds. Any individual, non-profit, or business can host their own sale on the event weekend and keep the proceeds from their sale.
The event fundraiser makes money by hosting a searchable online sale directory that has a small registration fee. Mitchum Owen, President of the Rotaract Club, is creating this interactive directory for his graduate thesis project in the School of Informatics. Owen is creating the online directory as part of his graduate studies in Media Arts and Science.
“What’s great about this event is that everyone benefits,” said Owen. “We hope to raise a lot of funds for Teachers’ Treasures and Rotaract, but every individual or non-profit that hosts a sale will also get to make money for their own needs.”
Within a few weeks, the online sale directory will be available on the official event website, and anyone wishing to host a sale will be able to register their location and the items they are selling.
“I continue to be impressed with the compassion of the Indianapolis community. It seems everywhere I seek help, people are eager to get involved with this project,” Owen said. “Just a couple weeks ago, eTapestry, Inc. agreed to process the online payments. They will ensure that the online transactions are handled in a secure and responsible manner.”
Teachers’ Treasures is an Indianapolis non-profit that provides free school supplies to teachers in more than 200 schools in IPS, private, charter, and township school districts. Last year, Teachers Treasures gave away more than $3 million worth of school supplies, benefitting around 90,000 students. (www.teacherstreasures.org)
The Rotaract Club is a student organization at IUPUI that is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Downtown Indianapolis. With a mission to promote volunteerism and leadership development, Rotaract participates in many community service activities throughout the year and hosts a speaker series at IUPUI on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to international peace. (www.iupuirotaract.org).
Owen is a second-year graduate student in the School of Informatics at IUPUI. In addition to serving as president of the Rotaract Club, he is also president of the graduate student government, an associate instructor of web design, and the District Rotaract Representative for central Indiana. [source: Circle City Yard Sale news release]
Owen was a recent guest on WXIN-TV Fox 59, discussing the fundraiser and his Informatics connections. You can watch the video here.
