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Pro-bono consulting and hands-on
fieldwork help grow local organization
LONDON,
ON, May 26, 2009 – MBA students at
the Richard Ivey School of Business will
trade their laptops and notebooks for
farmers' gear and garden hoes so they
can literally plant the seeds for a
sustainable business.
About 70
students will help London City Farming
Network, a non-profit organization that
runs community farms in London, to plant
crops, erect deer fences and build a
small barn on Saturday, May 30 at
Fanshawe Pioneer Village.
The event
is organized by Ivey Connects, a
student-run group that aims to inspire
students to contribute to the societies
in which they operate.
Ivey
Connects has also been providing free
consulting to London City Farming
Network to help it build a charitable
foundation that promotes food security
through research, education and
community action.
London City
Farming Network was originally called
City Farming Project and began in 2006
when some London residents found a patch
of undisturbed farmland in the city and
started growing food on it. They grow
heirloom plants and unusual varieties of
hybrids and sell their produce at local
markets and to restaurants.
City
Farming Project Founders Rose White and
Kathleen McCully would now like to
expand the organization under the name
London City Farming Network to include a
seed bank and education on the lost art
of growing food. The students have been
helping them with marketing and
fundraising initiatives and to create a
business plan so they can apply for
grants.
"I want to
create a business model that others can
adopt and create for their own cities,"
said White. "The students' ability to
build infrastructure for this has been
vital."
Jordan
Wickett, an MBA student who is leading
the consulting project, said the
students were drawn to the organization
because of its potential to create
social change.
"I'm a big
believer in healthy eating and a healthy
lifestyle and this organization is
promoting that," he said. "The project
has also provided me with a great
opportunity to develop my leadership
skills."
Christine
Wessman, an MBA student and co-director
of MBA Ivey Connects, said the planting
event is a nice complement to the
consulting project. She organized the
event along with fellow MBA students
David Forsberg and Charles Newton Price.
"This event
gives us greater insight into the work
they do and also allows us to give back
to the community," she said.
Event:
"Ivey Connects Community Action Day"
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2009
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Fanshawe Pioneer
Village (2609 Fanshawe Park Road East,
London)
For more
information on the event, please contact
Christine Wessman,
CWessman.MBA2009@ivey.ca
For more
information on Ivey Connects, please
visit
www.ivey.ca/iveyconnects
For more information on London City
Farming Network, please visit
http://www.cityfarm.ca/
About
Ivey Connects
Ivey Connects is a student-run
philanthropic organization operating at
the Richard Ivey School of Business
across many of its degree programs. Ivey
Connects works to inspire business
students to incorporate philanthropic
giving in their day-to-day lives, and
contribute to the societies in which
they operate. Through a variety of
initiatives, students learn first-hand
the value of sharing their time,
treasure, and managerial talent with
those in need in our global community.
About the Richard Ivey School of
Business, The University of Western
Ontario
The Richard Ivey School of Business at
The University of Western Ontario (www.ivey.ca)
offers undergraduate (HBA)
and graduate degree programs (MBA,
Executive MBA and
PhD) in addition to non-degree
Executive Development programs. Ivey has
campuses in London (Ontario),
Toronto, and Hong Kong. Ivey
recently redesigned its curriculum to
focus on
Cross-Enterprise Leadership – a
holistic issues-based approach to
management education that meets the
demands of today's complex global
business world.
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For more
information, please contact:
Dawn Milne, Communications Specialist,
Richard Ivey School of Business,
519-850-2536,
dmilne@ivey.ca
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