Listen to this article
Detroit Pistons and The Salvation Army select winners of internships at NBA arena
The Salvation Army Eastern Michigan Division along with Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E), announced in February the winners of “THE INTERNSHIP” competition: Alan Jaros of Oakland University, Kristina Howard of Oakland University and Justin Hatch of Lawrence Technological University.
The competition challenged students to develop and implement plans that would boost fundraising for the Salvation Army’s 114-year old Red Kettle tradition. Each winner received an internship with PS&E President and CEO Tom Wilson and the team will split $15,000 in scholarship money from SAM’S Club, Wal-Mart and Sprint Nextel.
Teams were judged on creating a brief business plan, establishing a relationship with the kettle-site store manager, recruiting volunteers to staff the kettles, and overseeing all donations at their kettle site.
“I was briefed on the plans that these students turned in and I heard great things from The Salvation Army about how hard all the teams worked during the Red Kettle campaign,” said Wilson. “When you have the opportunity to teach young people, work in the community with an organization as well respected as The Salvation Army and affect the lives of many, that is the ultimate win-win-win situation.”
While more than 60 teams entered the competition, the winning team raised more than $8,125 for their Red Kettle during the campaign. The team was honored at halftime of the February 23 game against the Indiana Pacers.
“The competition was a great learning experience as it basically emulated what it is like to run a small business,” said Hatch. “I highly recommend for all students pursuing higher education to take a look at being involved not only with The Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign from a philanthropic standpoint, but also from an educational standpoint.”
“Eighty percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses,” said The Salvation Army’s Jason Hale, creator of “THE INTERNSHIP” competition. “We want to do our part in creating more jobs for the area by developing small business management skills and encouraging the students to stay in the area after graduation. That won’t happen unless someone gets them involved.”
—information courtesy of
the Detroit Pistons.