Medaille College News

Medaille College’s SIFE program, Students in Free Enterprise, has received a $750 grant from HSBC to support a collaborative project that promotes financial and physical health in area middle schools.

Medaille students are bringing the Junior Achievement “It’s My Business” curriculum to Buffalo’s parochial schools through a program called CHAMP, Choosing Healthy Alternatives through Mentoring and Play. This volunteer effort works to educate students in grades 5-8 on making better choices in food selection, and to promote the importance of exercise in personal and family units.

At St. Amelia’s School in Buffalo, four Medaille students work with middle-schoolers to set up “student markets” within the school. The students chose to create a healthy snack shop in the form of a “Smoothie Shack.” With guidance from the Medaille students about running a business, entrepreneurship and ethics, they will produce a business plan, advertising and marketing material, and a budget. The project will lead to a presentation by the St. Amelia’s students to their peers on why they chose this project and what it means for the school.

Medaille students travel to St. Amelia’s about twice each week to work with the students. “I like working with these kids; they’re a bright, fun group,” says Danielle Rollins, a sophomore in Medaille’s undergraduate business program. “When we asked them to think of a product they’d like to create, they were thinking big.” Instead of video games or toys, “one child talked about how he wanted to help his mom, a doctor, help other kids live a better life by finding cures for diseases,” she says.

Part of the HSBC grant will cover the costs of buying juicers, blenders, and supplies at St. Amelia’s. The rest will go toward similar efforts at other middle schools.

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