(Left to right) Seniors Keith Hummel, Ryan Chien, and Chris Robison came up with the idea for a project to bring music to the Boys and Girls Club of Vancouver, Wash. after they were required to create a project for their business class. (Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON)
By Harry Blakeman, Staff Writer blakeman15@up.edu
Three students went into BUS364 last semester expecting to create a business project, do their homework, pass all their tests and be on their way. What they didn't expect was to found a nonprofit that helps struggling music programs.
Seniors Chris Robison, Keith Hummel and Ryan Chien founded PlayItForward, a nonprofit that works with the Boys and Girls Club chapter in Vancouver, Wash. to help struggling music programs. The nonprofit collects instruments from students from other schools who are no longer using them and either sells them to raise money or refurbishes them for students use in music programs.
"We were trying to find a nonprofit niche market that would make children's lives better," Chien said.
Chien explained that for any nonprofit to be successful, it needs to thrive in a niche market, or a section of the economy that is specialized so that it can do actual good for the community.
PlayItForward launched on Jan. 3, and now that they're operational they're hoping to contribute. They joined up with the Boys and Girls Club after a connection told them the club was looking to improve its music programs.
"The nice thing about the Boys and Girls Club was that they had an existing music program that we could sort of pair into," said Hummel.
Chien also enjoys working with the Boys and Girls Club.
"It's just nice to be working with a team that's so dedicated to helping underprivileged children," Chien said.
Business professor Helder Sebastiao said Robison, Chien and Hummel's idea soon grew out of the classroom and took on a life of its own. The three eventually had to do a different project for class because they developed PlayItForward so well already.
Robison, the group's leader, said that the other ideas they came up with and passed on helped them test PlayItForward and make sure it was feasible. Chien believes the project has taught them all to be better business professionals. He thinks it has helped them find confidence and find new markets that have potential but may not have already been heavily researched.
Robison, Hummel and Chien got the much-needed help of business professors to refine their vision. Robison thinks that UP is a community of volunteer-inclined students, and hopes people will get on board with their project.
All three of them are excited that this project is something they can take with them and work on after leaving The Bluff.
"After graduation I'll still be doing volunteering," Robison said, "I think it would be nice if the volunteering was directed towards a project of my own."
Hummel pointed out that their headquarters could be anywhere, so they won't need to be working physically together on PlayItFoward after they leave UP to keep it going.
"What's nice is that wherever we have a laptop - wherever the Wi-Fi is strongest - that's our base of operations," Hummel said.
(Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON)
(Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON)
