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All gifts to the Co-op for Community Fund (up to a total of $5,000) will be matched 1:1!
Steve Menich and his wife Mary Ellen believe that students can help build strong communities through working with non-profit organizations.
Gifts to the Co-op for Community Fund create new co-op positions for students, from all disciplines, at non-profits who are in need of their talent and cannot afford to hire otherwise. The Co-op for Community program is based on the model spearheaded by the Menich Family, which has helped United Way and their affiliated agencies hire more than 50 co-op students since 2004. Today, Steve Menich and his wife Mary Ellen continue this important tradition.
Over a four- or eight-month co-op term, students join selected non-profits, where they apply their skills to the organization’s program and services. These experiences infuse non-profits with next-generation talent, and give students powerful insight into the level of need in communities at home and around the world.
Research by the Work-Learn Institute at Waterloo confirms that making an impact on society isn’t just desirable to students — it’s a top priority. Co-op students stand to benefit from work terms in the non-profit sector; however, charitable organizations often struggle to afford talent. Your gift today will create new co-op opportunities for students in charitable organizations that need their talent.
Steve Menich and Mary Ellen Cullen (BA '78)
“In these challenging times in particular, students and community non-profits need help. If we can support them in a symbiotic way, that’s ideal. The student gains valuable workplace skills and an awareness of what it means to be socially responsible in the community, and the non-profit gains a much-needed resource to allow them to carry out their work.”