The Communications Department’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is growing and members are taking on projects that benefit the local community.
“We are here to help with non-profit organizations. It’s a way of helping them get the public relations stuff done that they normally wouldn’t have the money to do,” said advisor Douglas Martin. “But we also do graphic design for them and it’s really open to any non-profit organization that would need our help.”
The chapter’s work has had a big payoff for junior Morgan Harding’s, who completed a fashion show and sale for her on-campus internship class. Her goal was to help raise money for the First Lady’s Beautification Project, which she did through the Holiday Chic Peek Fashion and Trunk Show last fall.
“I was actually proud when we did the trunk show because we had a bunch of people show up. We had the venders and we were all very satisfied with the outcome,” said Martin. “The people who came here absolutely enjoyed it. We heard lots of very good feedback about it and we also raised a thousand dollars for it. So I was very proud of what we’ve done.”
PRSSA President Peter Falvey said he believes the chapter is also benefiting the university.
“Morgan Harding, she is a junior, and she was able to get on TV to talk about her work. We wrote up press releases and we had a huge turnout and I think it turned out great.”
Members are now working on a number of projects for non-profit organizations within the community.
PRSSA is working with Cougar Radio to provide public relations for its Cougar Indi-Pendence CD and the Beats for Benefits concert.
“We made sure we wrote up press releases. [Advertisdments] already got in more newspapers and because of this, they got more CD’s than they did last year which was kind of our goal, and [the work] got the name out for Misericordia,” said Falvey.
The chapter is also working on presses releases for Fertile Grounds, a non-certified organic farm in Noxen. WHAT IS THE SNAP PROGRAM–MUST EXPLAIN PRIOR TO QUOTE
“We are writing a press release for them about how they accept the SNAP program,” said Falvey. “I’m glad we’re working with that because people don’t know about it, and I feel like if I lived up here I would consider joining it because it’s fresh vegetables and what not.”
Falvey and Martin hope to see the chapter grow even more within the next year.
“I hoping PRSSA is a lot more well-known. Right now I know we’re reaching out to a lot of non-profits. I’m hoping that non-profits will start approaching us as we get a reputation,” he said. “I am hoping, looking at other schools like Temple who have like 20 members, I am hoping that we grow and that people understand who we are and what public relations is.”
“I hope to see us growing to where we are busy, busy, busy and we have clients coming to us,” said Martin. “We don’t have to go and find them and its clients who really need our help and can use our help and we’re able to make a difference with the skills that we all have.”
The PRSSA chapter was added to the communications department in the past year.
“It kind of made sense. We are a communications major which public relations is a big part of. We used to have to send our students as associate members to other colleges and we asked, ‘Why don’t we have it?’ So we decided to look into it, to have our own chapter and finally got all the leg work done. There was a need and we filled that need.”
PRSSA is not just open to communications majors and minors, Martin said.
“Any one is welcome to join,” he said.