Hillsdale’s Enactus club has some new initiatives this year for energy conservation, partnerships with businesses in the Hillsdale community, and international outreach. Enactus’ leaders will be continuing with some of last year’s projects while adding new dimensions to serve their goals.
In previous years, the group held an energy conservation contest among the dorms. Now, under the leadership of junior Devin Creed, the energy team will be focusing on expanding recycling on Hillsdale’s campus and in the community at large in addition to prior objectives.
According to Creed, recycling on campus has dwindled. Other clubs on Hillsdale’s campus, like Tri-Beta and the American Chemical Society, have not expressed interest in ramping up recycling efforts, and Enactus plans to fill the gap. The energy initiative is considering a dorm recycling competition, boosting recycling in Saga, and cleaning up after off-campus parties.
“A part of our team is looking into recycling in the city, specifically vegetable oil because most of that just gets thrown away by local restaurants, and it can be turned into biofuel,” Creed said. “There are companies that will pay restaurants to take it.”
The team is talking with Mary Wolfram, the city’s economic planner, about the best way to move forward.
Senior Emily Wahl is head of the community development initiative this year. The team will continue to work with local non-profit restaurant Tastes of Life, providing training in marketing and social media use. Tastes of Life is a part of Life Challenge of Michigan, a Christian substance abuse recovery program.
Wahl’s vision has grown, however, to include another element she hopes will be beneficial to both the college and the city — connecting students with job and internship opportunities in town.
“We’re really working to bring the two communities together,” Wahl said. “We’re researching ways to help students become aware of the different jobs and or internships that are available downtown and a way for the business owners to advertise them to students.”
Finally, the international development initiative, led by senior Deb Howe for three consecutive years, is undertaking some new projects as well, reaching all the way to the Dominican Republic.
For the past couple years, Enactus has worked with The Lingap Children’s Foundation of the Philippines, designing their website and assisting them with marketing. This year, they are hoping to join with the Barnabas Task, a Dominican Republic-based philanthropy, that provides education in microfinance, health and wellness, and free economic principles to impoverished areas.
Enactus will work to help the Barnabas Task with its website and social media, as Enactus does with The Lingap Foundation and Hillsdale businesses.
“The other aspect of what Enactus is doing with them is a little bit more towards the purpose of Enactus and our work,” Howe said. “We’re hoping to create a program where Hillsdale students can go down and teach on the side of medical hygiene for about a week.”
Enactus also hopes to send economics and business students to teach about microfinance and entrepreneurship. But not only does the international initiative team want to open up new opportunities to Hillsdale students, it wants to do so for the community, too.
“What we’re thinking is some sort of a merit-based program where high-school-aged students from the Hillsdale and surrounding communities could achieve the opportunity to do the same kind of teaching thing,” Howe said. “But I think it might even be more powerful for the community because of the opportunities that they may not have that Hillsdale students might have.
