A benevolent team of business and law students at the University of Queensland has been recognised for helping the national charity Youngcare boost its social media presence.
Their winning project was part of a Community Engagement Program (CEP) organised by UQ’s Business, Economics and Law Faculty to give 180 students real-life experience working with non-profit groups.
Team leader and Bachelor of Business Management student Edith Cham said the group devised a plan to make Youngcare’s YouTube channel stand out from the crowd and improve its social networking.
“I was thrilled to work with Youngcare because it is an energetic, bold, innovative community organisation that is pioneering, driven and impactful in its work serving the physical needs of young people with high care needs,” explained Ms Cham.
The social media plan has been recognised as the best of 26 charity projects in the 2015 Community Engagement Program.
The winning team members were Edith Cham, Rebecca Bennett, Hui Jia Ong, Theresa Yu, Lewis Jun Ze Guo, Bingjie Liu, Xin Wang, and Hilary Baker.
Youngcare CEO Samantha Kennerley said the students’ work will make a big difference.
“This is a wonderful initiative run by UQ and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate,” said Mrs Kennerley.
“The students have done an impressive job and I am very excited about the ideas they have come up with.
“The next step for Youngcare is executing the project. We’re committed to helping young Aussies with high care needs live life with choice, independence and dignity. I’ve got no doubt that this project will be another positive step on this journey.”
UQ Community Engagement Program coordinator Cass Vickers said there were 17 projects in the running this semester and the standard was exceptionally high.
“The Youngcare project stood out because the students were passionate about the cause, really listened to their client and created an integrated solution,” she said.
"The Community Engagement Program is building an appetite amongst our students for opportunities with a social outcome."
Several UQ CEP 2015 projects were highly commended for their work with Community Mates, Givit Kids Adopt a Cause, and Gifts4Good.
The award for Most Outstanding Team Leadership went to Leisda Marsdon whose team worked with food charity SecondBite.
CONTACT: Cass Vickers, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law – 07 3365 8285.
