Above: Fifteen of the 250 children served by the Maison Fortuné Orphanage of Hinche, Haiti. VCU Marketing students have worked to increase the orphanage's visibility with prospective donors.
January 12, 2011 marked the one year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Haiti. In the aftermath, VCU School of Business students have been working to make a difference in the lives of 250 orphans in Hinche, Haiti.
Founded in 2000 with four malnourished children, Maison Fortuné Orphanage in Hinche, Haiti, today serves 250, including the original four (now in high school) and almost a hundred orphaned by the earthquake in January 2010. VCU School of Business students have been working, in and out of class, with the orphanage since last summer.
"Thanks to the support of VCU Business School faculty like Marketing Department Chair Dr. Michael Little, Assistant Professor of Marketing Dr. Kiersten Maryott and Information Systems Professor Dr. George Kasper, a summer 2010 Integrated Marketing Communications class took the Maison Fortuné Orphanage as their project for a marketing campaign," says Dr. Cosmas Rubencamp CFX, Secretary of the Maison Fortuné Orphanage Board of Directors.
The momentum continued in the fall semester. "Marketing majors Andrew Doyle, Grant Heppes, Chase Holder, Jasmine Kirby, and Dannita Trice are serving as volunteer interns, and they are getting the orphanage on Facebook and Twitter, preparing two PowerPoint presentations for current and prospective donors, and developing a tool for surveying the 1300 donors in the Foundation's database," says Dr. Rubencamp. Students have found the experience rewarding.
"I was enthused to get involved when I saw the email from VCU Marketing looking for someone to handle a social media campaign for the Foundation," says Heppes. "Being a total social media nerd, I knew exactly what they needed. I am glad to be involved and have been learning plenty from this opportunity. Overall, I am just very happy to be helping those who are less fortunate." While response was slow at first, Heppes reports that the social media outlets have seen steady increases in participation, a trend he hopes with continue. "Be sure to follow @Maison_Fortune on twitter," he adds.
The Maison Fortuné Orphanage was conceived by Lefort Jean-Louis, a native of Hinche who had the opportunity to attend Virginia Tech in the early 90s. He returned to Haiti after graduation, working as an interpreter for the UN for a while until he came to know the four impoverished children who would be the first to live in the orphanage. "His life hasn't been the same since," says Dr. Rubencamp. At Lefort Jean-Louis' invitation, several people from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia visited Hinche and were so moved that they decided to begin a not-for-profit foundation for the orphanage's support.
"Chartered in Virginia in 2002, the Maison Fortuné Orphanage Foundation, Inc., has raised well over a million dollars for capital and operational costs, and is now on the way to raise a five million dollar endowment to ensure its future, while continuing to raise about $300,000 a year for operating costs," says Dr. Rubencamp. Donations of all sizes are welcome, and even small amounts have the potential to help a child greatly. "It takes a little over $3 a day to feed, clothe and educate each child. The orphanage elementary school also educates over 100 poor kids from the neighborhood who otherwise would not be able to attend school."
Learn more about this project at the following links:
Follow the Maison Fortuné Orphanage on Facebook
Maison Fortuné Orphanage twitter feed
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