Transcript Media Day - West Virginia University

Zohra Haidar
Why I choose this class?
 I took SRVL 495 to allow me to get a glimpse into the business
world. I felt through a non-profit organization, I would be able
to not only help others but also the community!
 I believed the Ronald McDonald House Charities would be the
best place for me to grow. Seeing how I have volunteered there
for a period of time, I new the environment as well as the needs
of the RMH.
My project
 The Project that I choose to be apart of was Media Day. Media
Day was on the RMH’s 18th birthday, October 10, 2008; this
was the first time that this had been done. For the celebration
we invited the media as well as different organizations and
companies to come to the RMH and learn more about what we
do. I really believed by taking part of this assignment I would
be able to attain new skills and learn more about Non-Profit
agencies.
 My job was to contact as well as find different organizations
out side of the Morgantown area that did not know much about
the RMH and invite them for the birthday celebration. On top
of that, I worked alongside Lisa Snyder from United Way. Lisa
and I worked together to have the Youth from there Youth
United campaign to create the decorations for the house.
 The RMH is a home away from home, for families that have a
child under the age of eighteen in the hospital. These families
live about two hours away from the hospital and are unable to
afford or make the commute to and from Ruby Hospital.
 Therefore, the RMH was created to allow families to feel at
home. Guests of the RMH are more then welcome to come take
a shower, eat, do laundry and more. The only difference
between a family staying at the RMH and a guest of the RMH
is that they have to leave the house by 9pm.The RMH is
located directly in front of Ruby Memorial Hospital and it is in
operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with office hours
from 9am-9pm.
 The RMH serves any one and
everyone. If a family is not able to
stay here, they are direct billed to a
hotel free of charge for up to two
nights.
 We serve families that have a child
in the hospital under the age of
eighteen.
 For more information on the Staff
as well as upcoming activates and
events you can check out the
website at www.rmhcmgtn.org .
 I WANT THE FRONT
COVER OF THE
WEBSITE HERE!~
Personal
Connection
 By doing this service learning project I put all the
skills that I have gained through my Undergraduate
experience at WVU into use.
 I was able to make new friendships with different
organizations as well as age ranges with ease. Such as
the Shack, United Way, Public News Stations and
more.
 I felt that I not only learned different means of
communication, but I also was able to build
friendships with the local community.
Education Connection
 I am academically preparing myself for this assignment by
researching more about the RMH.
 By researching different ways of communicating with the
community, it allowed me to discover different means in
speaking on behalf of the RMH.
 I also felt that through the research, I was gaining more insight
on business and different ways to attract the community in
getting more involved with the RMH.
Community & Agency
 Media Day was something that helped the community to get a
closer understanding of what the RMH is. I believe my project
utilized the media, which is vital in ways of reaching out to
others that did not know much about what we were or what we
do.
 Many people do not know what the RMH is unless they are
referred by friends or professionals that do. So by putting
ourselves in the Media, it allows others to see that we are here
to help the community which in return can help us.
 “The agency’s further
 By donating to the RMH you
are helping the community
as well as families in need.
 The RMH mission statement
clearly explains our purpose
in greater details…
mission is to “help lift kids
to a better tomorrow”, by
making contributions and
grants to charitable
organizations which engage
in educating children, or
providing for the essential
needs of children or carrying
on research as to physical
and mental diseases and
other disorders of children,
or the diagnosis, prevention,
and treatment thereof.”
Journals
 Through my journal entries I realized how much I have learned
through this process. I learned new skills such as researching,
interpersonal, nonverbal, managerial, time management and
organizational skills.
 All these skills assisted me in completing my assignments to
the best of my ability. I not only learned a vast amount of
information through researching what exactly the RMH is and
does for the community, but I had to utilize my information to
create a packet for organizations that were unable to attend
Media Day.
 I learned what Service Learning is, which to me is where you
teach as well as learn new strategies to enrich the community
by teaching civic responsibility.
 I had to learn ways of organizing data, in which I created an
excel spread sheet that contained information that I had
collected.
 This experience allowed me to change and think of the
community differently. Instead of being a volunteer, I was in
charge of ways to help more people come and volunteer. I
became a spokes person for the RMH and I enjoyed that role
immensely.
Lessons
 I learned through this Project how difficult it is to ask for
funding. I had promotions that the community knew what the
RMH is, and I was wrong.
 I learned rejection as well as how vital organizations is as well
as patients.
 And most importantly I learned how important communication
is.
Learning from my
mistakes
 I realized when I began calling different organizations how
little they new about the RMH.
 When I would ask the organizations for funding I would hear
flat out No! When Jeannie and myself sent out the invitations
for the Media Day, very few people RSVP’d even though it
was explicitly written on the card.
 While on the phone I not only had to be pleasant as well as
informative, I had to be able to communicate with different
individuals. Such as Lisa from United way, to my Supervisor
Jeannie or the kids at the Shack!
Skills
Organization
Managerial
Interpersonal
Researching
 These skills and much more allowed me to not only succeed,
but assisted in my growth throughout this project.
 I believe skills are learned through time as well as situations.
By gaining these skills, I not only have more competence but
also experiences.
Theories
 The 4 P's of Marketing also known as the Marketing Mix,
which stand for product, price, place and promotion. This
theory related to my service learning project immensely. The 4
P's allowed me to see how important it is for me to utilize all
four of these categories.
 The main purpose of this theory is to center decision making
around the 4 P's. And not only through this project did I utilize
this method but also for my job. When I work, I make sure to
promote anything that I think will assist me in getting my job
done the most efficient and quickest way possible.
 Another theory that I believe relates to the RMH is
Organizational Transformation Begins at the Top. This theory
explains how important organization is for success to occur.
 This theory clarifies that know matter what position you have
an in agency or job you first have to modify your self for the
greater good of the company. I truly believe that if coworkers
work together, the outcome will be positive.
Knowledge
 The academic articles that I read, allowed me to gain better
insight on Non-Profit organizations, as well as the difficulties
of creating a Non-Profit organization.
 By reading different written materials, it allowed me to get
different view points as well as perspectives of organizations
that strive to help the community.
 Most importantly, I was able to read the positives and negatives
of working for a Non-Profit agency but also the difficulties in
creating one.
 By reading these articles, it allowed me to get different view
points during my reflections.
 The reflections that I made not only utilized my experiences
through the project, but also my readings. I believe the readings
helped to explain Non-Profit agencies and the different types.
 By writing my reflections down, it allowed me to see the
different skills I was attaining as well the different view points
I had from one reflection to the next.
Academics
 For my service learning project, I would have had an easier
time if I had taken computer and business courses.
 By taking computer classes it would have allowed me to have a
better understanding of Excel and any other types of programs
that I could have utilized for the contact lists that I created.
 As for the Business classes, if I had more education on
management as well as finance, I would have been able to
assist Jeannie much more.
 For my project, I had to do a number of things in order to
have Media Day run smoothly.
 I had to find and contact Businesses as well as Organizations
to see if they would donate to the RMH.
 Than I had to create a database of every contact that I had
spoken with.
 From there, I had to create another excel spread sheet of just
organizations that the RMH could use for Media purposes.
 Than I had to create invites for the contacts to join us for the
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Media Day.
It was my responsibility to contact Lisa Snyder from United
Way to allow us to utilize Youth day.
After this, I went to speak with the kids at the Shack to help us
in decorating the RMH for the Birthday celebration.
It was also my responsibility to get the cake, appetizers and
decorations and set it up as well as make sure the RMH was
clean outside and inside.
Than I had to call organizations that did not rsvp and
organizations that did to remind them of Media Day.
 During the Media Day, it was my responsibility to welcome
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guests and give them a tour of the house.
After the guests had left, I was in charge of putting everything
away and making sure the house was spot less .
Jeannie and myself during the time of all this work were
working on the packets that we had created to send out to
organizations that were not able to make it.
We sent out folders as well as thank you letters to the Shack and
United way for their hospitality and generosity.
Finally, I had to recheck my spread sheets for both contacts as
well as media to make sure everything was accurate.
Outcome
 All the hard work and dedication that I put into my service
learning project showed on Media Day. I truly believe that not
only Jeannie was proud of my accomplishments but as was
Kim George the Executive Director.
 She was so surprised of the amount of work that I did, and yet
proud of me that she even wrote me a Thank you card for my
efforts, which really meant a lot to me.
 I believe I proved not only to Jeannie and the RMH staff that I
was able to uphold an enormous amount of responsibility on
my own but also to myself.
Hours
 To make it easier for Jeannie, I made an Excel
spread sheet of the event, day and time I worked
on my SRVL project. That way both Jeannie and I
new what was discussed on which day!
Changes
 I believe through this experience I have grown immensely. This
project has allowed me to gain new skills as well as learn in
more depth about Non-Profit agencies. I also gained more self
confidence in myself when it comes to problem solving and
managing time. I never thought that I would be able to
accomplish the amount of tasks that were assigned to me, but
thankfully I was able to.
 I feel that academically I have been able to gain a better
prospective into the business world. I learnt a lot about
financing, budgeting, money and management. All of these are
key strategies to creating a successful organization.
 I also gained a new respect for Jeannie and the amount of time
and effort she puts into each project she does for the RMH.
Positives
 This experience allowed me to gain experience on raising
money.
 I learned how to balance classes, work and this project as well
as attain new skills along the way.
 I was able to work on a project that had never been done before
and do an outstanding job at it. I really felt that I proved my
self to Jeannie and creating what she wanted for Media Day.
 Most importantly, I was able to complete what was asked of me
in an organized fashion and create a very close bond with
Jeannie.
Negatives
 It was difficult at times to balance my Service Learning Project
during the month of Ramadan, because I had obligations at the
Mosque, home and with my family.
 I lacked in certain computer skills as well as business skills that
would have helped me achieve my goals much faster.
 I had a difficult time finding information on organizations and
media contacts that the RMH did not already have.
 Lastly, I was disappointed In the organizations that did not
bother to RSVP back to us, even though it was written on the
card or did RSVP and choose not to attend.
This project helped the RMH have an organized list of
contacts with all there information at there discretion. Also, by
creating Media Day, the RMH was able to get the word out to
the community about what the RMH is and explain in better
details what the RMH does for the community. Also, by
creating folders, organizations were able to read and see first
hand not only how organized the RMH is but also the
donations that are given the house go to as well as who are they
helping and for what purpose. Media Day I believe has allowed
the RMH do get publicity in areas that we do not have.