Ohio Christian Atlanta Site Students Honor Caregivers

A group of three students at the Ohio Christian University Atlanta site, as part of a project management class, chose to plan and host their own event honoring caregivers. In the course of five weeks, the students developed a charter, raised community support, and organized a black and white dinner for over 40 caregivers and nurses in the Atlanta area.

“For the way they started and the way they finished in that class time, I was just truly amazed,” their professor, Selena Buchanan, said.

The class normally requires students to plan for a fictious event, however, class member LaShaeele Adams suggested a real project instead. The other two students agreed and decided to host a dinner event for caregivers.

“It takes a village to take care of a person who is either disabled, or elderly, or whatever the situation may be,” Buchanan said. So, the group wanted their event to bring together the community to support those who serve every day and give the caregivers a chance to relax.

Buchanan, who holds a Master of Business Administration and graduate certificate in project management, combined her education and professional experience to support her students. Buchanan has hosted similar events in her role as Director for the Atlanta Project Management Day of Service and passed on the lessons she learned in that role to support the project.

“Those ladies did most of the work,” Buchanan said. “I just facilitated and did the project management part.”

Without any direct assistance from Buchanan, the students recruited volunteers from the community; they collected donations for giveaways, brought in a caterer who prepared the dinner for free, and invited a number of venders to attend.

Buchanan served as the master of ceremonies and Atlanta site Dean Paula Robertson made the keynote address for the evening. The dinner was a success according to Buchanan, who said most of the tables were full and everyone was happy with the student’s event.

“They did an awesome job,” Buchanan said. “I told them to keep it to a minimum. If you keep it within your scope of what you want to do you can get it done. And those ladies did it.”