![The marketing club has teamed up with Ida Rhodes Enrichment Fund to promote recreational activities among local children. Photo by Daniel Potter.](https://csupueblotoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/16319309408_7608410a99_z-300x114.jpg)
The Marketing Club at Colorado State University-Pueblo has been working to create a logo, brochure and application form for the Ida Rhodes Enrichment Fund.
The fund was created to help impoverished children develop by providing them with recreational activities outside of school.
Local business leader Burnie Zercher approached the club to help with development of certain aspects of promoting the fund.
Recreational activities that are not academic in nature, like the ones the fund is working to promote, allow students to relax and play. Occasional academic aspects of recreation activities can be pointed out, but the primary lessons learned in recreational activities are in the areas of social skills, teamwork, leadership, competition and discipline.
“The fund is intended to help kids pay for community activities that their parents might otherwise not be able to afford,” Zercher said.
These activities can include soccer, dance classes, art and T-ball, among others.
Enrichment activities expand on students’ learning in ways that differ from the methods used during the school day. They often are interactive and project-focused and enhance a student’s education in new ways. These activities are intended to be fun for the student, while they work to instruct knowledge.
“Catholic Charities counselors will administer the fund. In order for the child to be eligible, the parents must be involved in one of the many Catholic Charities programs. We hope that people will be motivated to donate to the fund once it is made public,” Zercher said. “There is a fairly large chunk of money sitting there already.”
The partnership with Zercher and the Ida Rhodes Child Enrichment Fund will benefit each party.
“I feel that this fund is important for our community, because it gives children the opportunity to learn a new skills, develop a pre-existing one and make new friends,” said Samantha Derosier, president of the marketing club.
Children involved in extracurricular activities, especially the arts have been shown in studies to preform better in school and be more likely to be involved in their community.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, school-age children between the ages of five and fourteen spend up to 80 percent of their time outside of school.
During the time they are away from school, there becomes an opportunity to help children grow and acquire important social, emotional, and physical skills and to help them develop lifelong interests.
“The Marketing Club has taken on this project because we believe in giving back to our community however we can. It is also a good opportunity for our members to work outside of the CSU-Pueblo campus and get to work on something different from what we normally get to do,” Derosier said.
The Marketing Club’s mission statement is to provide our members with real-life experience, the opportunity for professional portfolio development, in addition to other resume-building opportunities and growth in collaboration skills.
“We also have a lot of fun, and try to make our club more of a collaborative community,” Derosier said.