For the past four years, Aquinas Professor Mark O’Toole has assigned a special project to his fall classes: students break into groups of four to five to design a marketing plan and collect at least $10,000 in donations to Mel Trotter Ministries. This year, his Business 205 class has continued this tradition, putting their learning about the fundamentals of marketing into action to feed and clothe the homeless population of Grand Rapids. 

Before collecting items, the students visited the Mel Trotter facility on Commerce Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids to see where their donations would go. They immediately reported being astounded by the facility.

“They home hundreds of people every night who need a place to stay,” explained Isabella Teelander, a participating student. “They give them free clothing, free toiletries, any health care needs. They have an eye care place in there. We went there, and it was just amazing, all the things that they had.” 

Many students were surprised that Mel Trotter provides individual rooms rather than the open-court setup typically associated with homeless shelters. Every room has two beds, and guests can receive food and hygiene supplies. Mel Trotter also provides services like financial counseling, emergency care, etc. 

Experiential Learning in Action 
Students have utilized various marketing methods to achieve their goal of $10,000.

They put posters up around campus and in locations around Grand Rapids, spread the word through social media, held donation drives at campus events and work, managed GoFundMe pages, reached out to family and other personal connections and even put out ads. 

One group set up Giving Trees around campus in the library, Wege Student Center, the academic and science buildings, The Moose, Holmedene and their local church. Another secured 15 laptops from the Michigan Lottery. Members of the bowling team raffled three bowling balls at their tournaments and raised $4,500. 

Another team sold glow sticks at the Shop Sparta event and raised $436. “We went to Shop Sparta, which is the big kickoff event in Sparta. We had a little tent and table set up. We bought 180 glowsticks, and we sold them to kids there. We sold out in an hour and a half. It was really awesome, and so well received. Kids were coming up to us as we were packing up and saying ‘This is where we get the glowsticks, right?’ It was so cute!” shared Michelle Baltruczak.   

Creative thinking and realizing when you need to pivot and change are all important aspects of running a successful marketing/student campaign.

“Professor O’Toole keeps telling us that if you want something to happen, you have to make it happen. I think that's been one of our biggest takeaways. We want this to happen, so we have to make it happen,” says Julie Mach, illustrating the importance of taking the initiative to reach one’s goals.

This type of experiential learning is embedded in many classes at Aquinas. Students apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to help the community around them, creating memories rather than simply memorizing facts. 

“I think it's really cool to see how the marketing aspect of everything can help people. We're not doing it for us. We're doing it for other people,” explains Kara Cummings.  

Through this goal-oriented project, students gained hands-on experience with time management, communication, social media outreach, data management, networking, collaborative work and more—skills that are valuable in marketing and management. 

When they enter the workforce, they will have the life experience, knowledge and confidence to tackle even larger projects and initiatives. 

Results and Reflections
On December 11, Mel Trotter sent a truck to collect everything the students gathered. To make the transfer as easy as possible, all donations were stored and staged in one of the classrooms in Aquinas’ Academic Building. 

The class raised $5,113 in cash donations and an estimated $80,0000-$100,000 in clothing and toiletries donations. These numbers are based on the team's spreadsheets using conservative pricing provided by Professor O’Toole. Additionally, the State of Michigan donated 12 to 15 laptops. 

When asked for reflections on the project, here’s what a few students shared: 

Amanda Thompson: “Seeing how many people are willing to help with our goal. We did a drive at Chick-fil-A, and we overflowed several boxes over several days. We actually extended the drive because of how well it went.”

Michelle Baltruczak: “It's cool how people have been willing to work with us, like businesses and people we know, who are willing and excited to help us with this project and just make it successful. It's been cool to see the generosity of people in our community.”

While the donation drive by Aquinas students is complete for the year, Mel Trotter Ministries is always looking for donations, especially with the cold months ahead. Visit their website if you have items you are looking to donate.