Project C: Student-created, student-motivated
written by LINDSAY BOYLE
Many of you have probably heard of initiatives like the Pepsi Refresh Project or Google's Chrome for a Cause, in which people are able to "donate" money to causes simply by voting for them or opening up extra tabs in their browser, respectively.
Most likely, it never crossed your mind to draw upon these ideas and gather friends and acquaintances to carry out a similar project.
Well, it crossed Annette Drapac's.
Drapac, a 21-year-old junior interactive media major at Ohio University, noticed that typically, OU media and communication students' involvement with Athens and the surrounding areas is short-lived.
"A lot of people do a lot of documentary storytelling about families and people in this area and then that's it," she said. "It's great that we're telling the stories, but I was annoyed."
It was out of this frustration that Project C was born.
Drapac, being a college student herself, recognized that most students have little money to spare. "The fact of the matter is that you're not going to get money from people, so what's the next best thing? It's to make them aware of the cause," she said.
The members of Project C, who communicate primarily through a Facebook group and bi-weekly meetings, are currently filming four short documentaries, each of which showcases a different area nonprofit organization: Community Food Initiatives, the Jethro Project, Good Works, Inc. and the OU Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
On May 31, 2011, the completed documentaries will be posted to clickingcreateschange.com so that anyone who's interested can watch the videos and vote for their favorite nonprofit.
"Everyone is online all the time," Drapac began, "so why not bring the conversation online in a way that is affordable for people?
Once the voting closes June 6, funds raised by Project C members will be delegated to the nonprofits according to the percentage of votes they received.
Drapac, OU junior Tony Guglielmi and OU senior Kyle Ackley are the co-directors of the unique student-created and student-run initiative.
"Instead of trying to fit the mold of something that already existed, we just wanted to brand ourselves as something that didn't already have a preconceived label or status," Drapac said.
In Winter Quarter, Drapac began to verbally spread the word about the Project C idea to people in her classes. Before she knew it, she heard people who she hadn't personally told chatting about the project in the halls.
This was especially exciting for Drapac since, at the time, the group had no formal Web site or logo and had not even proved to anyone that they had the ability to create decent videos and Web sites.
"I had no idea that these people were actually interested in some of these things," Drapac said. "But they probably had no idea either."
Interested may be an understatement. Many of the Project C members are going above and beyond, and often for no personal gain whatsoever.
"People are spending eight hours a day on a shoot that they're not getting any school or monetary credit for," Drapac explained. "It's really cool that these people actually care about their craft and the people that they're doing these stories on."
Drapac credits some of Project C's appeal to the fact that it's not a student organization through the university, which gives the members greater freedom. "With the people that are doing the stories, it's like, 'I'm not going to edit your photos. You know what your best photos are,'" she said.
Aside from donating to local nonprofits, it is hoped that the project will inspire new people to volunteer. Drapac explained that even though many college students did community service in high school, lots of them have since stopped. She feels that the stories told in the documentaries, as well as the ability for the students to vote and "donate" in an easy way could be influential in propelling them back into the volunteer scene.
Drapac, looking forward to next year, said that she's been compiling a list of improvements for Project C. Since the group members will already be affiliated and the logo already established, she is hoping that more time can be spent seeking funds from sources like grants.
Ultimately, Drapac hopes that the Project C idea will spread to other campuses and communities. "You don't have to be in impoverished rural Appalachia," she said. "You can be anywhere. Even if you're not in a poor city, there's still nonprofits that are helping improve the quality of life for different people."
Selfless and self-motivated, the members of Project C have certainly set the stage for the launch of similar projects.
"It's nothing like I've ever quite experienced," Drapac said. "This isn't about showcasing our talents. It's using what we know how to do best to help get other people on the map."
Interested?
Visit clickingcreateschange.com
"Like" the Project C Facebook page
"Follow" @projectC on Twitter
Donations may be sent to:
Annette Drapac
P.O. Box 5854
Athens, OH 45701
Please make donations payable to Ohio University Multimedia Society with Project C in the memo line. All donations will be distributed to the nonprofit organizations.
