GROUP MEMBERS:

Lisa Draper
Isaac Granillo
Jerod Pascua
Stephanie Schutt
Tsz Hong Sit
Anne Vendeland

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Upon receiving our assignment we brainstormed and decided that we wanted to do something that helps those least advantaged in society. We choose Soups On! for its services to those in need, its small business atmosphere and its all around welcoming feel. Soups On! is a soup kitchen that opens its doors two days a week serving hot meals, and offering shower and laundry facilities. Anyone at all is welcome to come have lunch. Also if they have any blankets and or clothing they distribute it out to those in need. Coming into Soups On! we found a basic need for donors, advertising, awareness of Soups On! in the community and a way to organize their information.

We created for them a website to better educate the community about Soups On! and its services. Our team created user manuals for Soups On!’s technical team so that they will be able to edit the content of the website over time.

Another thing Soups On! was in need of was business support and awareness. We contacted local businesses recruiting their support and donations for Soups On! We concentrated on local restaurants for perishable food donations and cash donations in the form of percentage of sales. We found only one restaurant willing to donate and that was Espinoza in Sehome Village. They offered to provide dinner for Soups On! once a month. Also Starbucks in Sunset Square offered to donate one pound of coffee a month.

We contacted grocery stores for donations of perishable food, non perishable food, personal hygiene products as well as cash donations. Our contact with Sunshine Liquidators on Cornwall was receptive and showed interest. Grocery Outlet and Haggen responded in an apathetic manner.

Churches were not very responsive to our requests for help. Most said they were busy with their own donations. Also, Christmas time is a busy season for drives, food banks, and church functions. When asked about planning events for some other time of the year we also were received unenthusiastically. The overall response from churches was negative.

We contacted local high school career centers to recruit students to volunteer at Soups On! Career counselors would promote Soups On! to students looking for volunteer opportunities. Also there would be announcements made over the morning bulletins. We got a very positive response from the high schools.

We contacted Rite Aid in Sunset Square as well as on Meridian for donations of cash in percentages of sales as well as donations of inventory. We targeted them specifically for donations of inventory of personal hygiene products. Rite Aid in Sunset Square was the most receptive but no definitive donations. The College Store, though disinclined to monetary donations, were more then willing to make a donation of six t-shirts.

Hotels were targeted for their blankets. Our goal was to get them to donate their used blankets to Soups On! Soups On! when they had their turnover. Soups On! would then distribute the blankets to those in need. Only one hotel, The Coachman Inn, was currently having a turnover and donated their used blankets but we educated other hotels about the option of donating their blankets to Soups On! Bay City Motor Inn donated toilet paper to Soups On! and were interested in future donations.

The database was to organize the information gained from our survey of local businesses into a useful format.

Some of the applicable ethical frameworks are:

 Deontology: community service and helping those less fortunate is a duty everyone shares.

 Utilitarianism: the benefits of our actions outweighed the costs as outlined by our cost-benefit analysis

 Distributive Justice: we installed mechanisms for redistributing donated items to those in need, as those more fortunate helped, and will continue to help in the future, those less fortunate.

 Libertarianism: we helped to promote more choices for services available to the less fortunate.

 Ethic of Care: our project helped Soups On! better serve their patrons and raised community awareness and involvement with the organization.

 Virtue Theory: our project promoted personal ideals.

 Meaningful work: we preformed a service for Soups On! by installing mechanisms for marketing research, and developing a website and technical support. Our work was significant because Soups On! performs services for the greater good helping those less fortunate.