Revised Meeting story: GIVE

GIVE is looking to expand its giving.

The student-run grassroots organization, a project of ASWSU, is dedicated to serving the Pullman community by raising money and awareness for local, national and international causes.

GIVE kicked off its second year by brainstorming new projects for the coming semester in a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Katie Peterson, one of the student leaders of GIVE, said they already have some ideas in mind.

“Last year’s co-president is now working with youth in the Middle East through the Peace Corps., and we want to figure out a project to help her kids,” Peterson said. “It would be amazing to have that personal connection helping people that are so far away.”

All other projects will be up to this year’s volunteers to choose and plan.

Samantha Sevedge, a sophomore psychology major, volunteered with GIVE last year and plans to do so again this year.

“It’s all about people bringing their ideas to us,” she said. “The more people that join and participate, the more causes we become aware of and the more people we can help.”

One of the Sevedge's favorite events in their 2009-2010 inaugural year was a water conservation campaign last March. Working with ASWSU and several sororities and fraternities on campus, GIVE set up informational tables on the Terrell Mall for a week and had a dunk tank showing how much water is wasted in the average home.

“Some people though the dunk tank was counter-productive, since we were wasting water when we said everyone should conserve it,” Sevedge said. “But the whole point of the week was to show people why conserving water is so important, and the dunk tank was a fun and visually powerful way to do that.”

Emily Kitts, senior communication major and fellow GIVE volunteer, added that the water conservation week was different from other philanthropic events because it was more about raising awareness than funds.

“I see GIVE as more of a medium to put on events and reach out to students than to collect money and give it directly to causes,” Kitts said. “We want to do as much good as possible, and while raising money is a great thing, sometimes making people aware of a cause evokes more passion and helps even more.”

Members are currently discussing whether to stay under the ASWSU umbrella as one of its projects or to step out as a stand-alone WSU committee.

As an ASWSU project, the Senate must vote to approve funding the club asks for. If the club broke off and formed a committee, GIVE could potentially raise more money to use for philanthropies but would have to rely almost fully on donations and grants. It is a decision GIVE members will have to make in the coming weeks.

“I would like for GIVE to break out on its own, if only to allow us to grow faster,” Kitts said. “It would be amazing if we could expand to other campuses and be known nationally, and people would know GIVE started here at WSU.”

GIVE meets every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in CUE 319.