Foster Evening MBA students give back: a review of Fall Quarter efforts

Briana Rubens is a 2nd year student and VP for Community Outreach on the Evening MBAA. Below, she recaps the various ways in which Foster Evening MBA Students gave back to the community during Fall Quarter.

The Foster Evening MBA Program has been busy this past quarter with a wide variety of Challenge for Charity events.

To provide a little background, Challenge for Charity (C4C) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that draws on the talents, energy, and resources of MBA students from the top West Coast business schools to support Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other family-related local charities. The purpose of the organization is to develop business leaders with a lifelong commitment to community involvement and social responsibility. Since C4C’s inception in 1984, the students of Foster have volunteered more than 19,000 hours and raised more than $1,000,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, Special Olympics Washington (SOWA) and the University Food Bank. This year’s challenge promises to once again be filled with epic fundraising, social, volunteer, and athletic events in pursuit of the coveted ‘Golden Briefcase.’

Participants in the 3rd annual Foster Fun Run

Before the race, a group of students pose for a picture.

A busy finish line at the Foster Fun Run

We started off the school year with our annual Foster C4C 5k Fun Run on October 11^th, and were thrilled to have over 200 participants this year as we kicked off our run at Paccar Hall! The run was a great opportunity for students from the daytime and evening MBA programs, family and friends to come together and support our Challenge for Charity efforts. The race kicked off at 9am, and participants were rewarded at the finish line with treats provided by Honest Tea, ClifBar, Naked Juice and Apex Fun Run. Orion Entertainment was also on-site to play some motivational tunes to energize the runners, and we capped off the event by awarding metals and prizes from Super Jock ‘n Jill and Mod Pizza to our top three women and top three men runners. The event helped raise over $8,000 for our Challenge for Charity efforts.

Evening MBA Students at the Foster Fun Run

Foster Evening MBA Students pose for a photo at the end of the Foster Fun Run.

November’s TG (Thank Goodness it’s Friday) Event benefitted C4C through a raffle for fun prizes ranging from lunch with our favorite professor to choosing how a guy’s facial hair should look (since many were participating in Movember) This TG was Hoedown themed, and everyone decked out in great western wear. At our TGs Foster MBA students, family and friends are able to get together and celebrate the end of the week and spend time outside of the classroom to get to know each other.

Evening MBA students recently participated in the first Service Day of the school year. We assisted St. Jude with its annual Give Thanks Walk that took place at Seattle Center on November 22^nd. Armed with coffee and energetic cheers to share with participants, we arrived at Seattle Center at 7:00am and headed off to our stations on the race course. It was extremely motivating to see so many family members and friends of those who have benefitted from St. Jude’s services and support out for the walk, and many shared their appreciation for our cheering and support on the race course.