KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� May 4, 2020 鈥� When her classes went online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 溏心vlog免费B站 first-year student Emma Grant returned to her family鈥檚 home. And when her business professor encouraged students to make face coverings, the project seemed a fun way to fill the hours.
Then close friends lost their father.
鈥淭he family鈥檚 message was to value and appreciate the time you have with each other and to take every moment for what it is worth, especially during this crisis,鈥� says Grant, of North Smithfield. 鈥淭hat shifted my mask making from just passing time while stuck inside to appreciating the time I get with my mom.鈥�
Grant is one of about 20 students in two levels of College of Business innovation and entrepreneurship classes to answer the call to help out in different ways during the crisis.
The courses give students a broad knowledge of the skills fundamental to innovation and entrepreneurship within new and existing companies. During the courses, students come up with ideas for their own small business, offering products or services to fellow 溏心vlog免费B站 students on campus.
But with their peers gone from campus and her students learning remotely, Professor Nancy Forster-Holt pivoted to focus lessons on the crisis. Her classes learned about such things as crisis management and how small businesses shift strategies and manage and protect workers in a crisis. Another has been on 鈥渟pontaneous venturing,鈥� where community members respond to a crisis by solving local problems. As part of the lesson, Forster-Holt asked students to make face coverings to donate to 溏心vlog免费B站 essential workers, and expanded that request by encouraging students to find their own ways to help out.
鈥淚 am always on the hunt for ways to apply theory to practice. I was able to connect the entrepreneurial concept of spontaneous venturing to our lessons,鈥� says Forster-Holt. 鈥淲hat is really heartwarming is that some of the students have made masks with their grandmothers or their moms. Several others are stepping up and filling important roles for those around them, seeking out opportunities in their hometowns.鈥�
Like Grant, most of the students who have volunteered have been making face coverings either for 溏心vlog免费B站 workers or donating them closer to home. 溏心vlog免费B站 200 of the masks have been donated to 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Department of Human Resource Administration.
While Forster-Holt provided links to instructions for making face coverings, Grant and her mother, Nicole, ended up buying cotton fabric and following directions from an Ocean State Job Lot website. And cranking up a sewing machine that had gone forgotten. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to note that this sewing machine was a gift a few years ago but has been sitting in the closet because no one could figure out how to use it,鈥� says Grant, who hopes to major in supply chain management. 鈥淪o, in my house, quarantine plus spontaneous venturing equals learning to use a sewing machine.鈥�
鈥淚 greatly appreciate the ways Professor Forster-Holt integrates real-world happenings into our lessons,鈥� she adds. 鈥淪he has done it all semester and completely altered her lesson plan to fit with the pandemic so that we are better learners and therefore better members of society.鈥�
Angelina Aguiar 鈥�21, of Taunton, Massachusetts, contacted her grandmother Ines Figueiredo, affectionately called Av贸, who was living in Florida for the winter and unable to return because of the pandemic.
鈥淪he has always been a talented seamstress so I thought this would be perfect for her,鈥� says Aguiar, a nursing major. 鈥淢y Av贸 had already provided friends and family with masks so I asked her if she had any material left to make masks to donate. Since then she has mailed dozens of masks to my professor.鈥�
Inspired by their grandmother, Aguiar and her younger sisters, Christina and Dianna, have begun making face coverings. 鈥淒ianna has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that makes her very susceptible during a pandemic. Not being able to go out in public, she began making masks to help protect not only herself but others as well,鈥� Aguiar adds. 鈥淎s a future nurse, I鈥檝e always had a drive to help people and I think this is the best way I can contribute to frontline workers who put themselves at risk everyday.鈥�
Marissa Sisson and Carissa Hawkes, both sophomore textiles, fashion merchandising and design majors, also are making face coverings. Sisson is working with her grandmother and donating them to a hospital near her home in Albany, New York.
鈥淲hen I saw Professor Forster-Holt鈥檚 email, I thought this was perfect for me because I love to sew,鈥� says Hawkes, of Wakefield. 鈥淚 wanted to help because there are people who don鈥檛 know how to sew and aren鈥檛 able to obtain masks.鈥�
Students Jessica Weidemann, Jack Murphy and Fiona Greenough are helping out close to home in other ways.
Both of Weidemann鈥檚 parents are doing vital work during the pandemic, her mother as a nurse and her father running a grocery story. That inspired her.
Weidemann 鈥�22, an animal science major, has been making cupcakes for her parents to bring to work to share with colleagues, including cupcakes with little red crosses and nurse鈥檚 hats for the hospital. 鈥淚 figured it was a good way to provide some happiness to people on the front line of this whole terrible situation while also finding a fun alternative to school work,鈥� says Weidemann, of Morristown, New Jersey. 鈥淏aking is also something that is very enjoyable for me and something fun to relieve stress.鈥�
Greenough, a sophomore gender and women鈥檚 studies major, has helped out in her hometown of Meridan, New Hampshire, shopping for groceries and checking in on elderly citizens and those at-risk as part of her church鈥檚 caregiver team.
鈥淭he people I am helping are so gracious. They are happy knowing that someone is thinking of them,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel responsible for the wellbeing of my community members and believe it is our duty to take care of those in our communities.鈥�
Murphy, a double major in marketing and public relations, has been helping with a food program in his hometown of North Kingstown. Called Blessings in a Backpack, the program sends food home with students on Fridays through their classrooms. But during the pandemic the program has switched to outdoor distribution at a local park and other areas, reducing the number of volunteers, and adhering to social distancing.
鈥淭his crisis is unchartered territory for everyone,鈥� he says. 鈥淎s of now, operations with Blessings in a Backpack are a continued success. As a volunteer, I enjoy giving back to my community, but I am looking forward to getting back to a sense of normalcy.鈥�