Brittany Turcotte, a sophomore at UMASS Amherst, is doing more than her fair share at working towards a change. An extremely motivated and passionate girl, Brittany has taken it upon herself to start a non-profit organization, Projects For People (P4P), http://projectsforpeople.wordpress.com/. She is currently in the beginning steps of spreading the word, looking for ways to take in funds, and organizing her plans to start action. Read below to see what has come from our interview and then do your part in spreading the word! 1. Who are their efforts affecting and how: - Women Shelters; Homeless shelters; Halfway Houses - Other companies with causes by talking about them/promoting on her blog - Many people who will be affected by her future projects 2. What motivated/inspired you to get involved in this (Experiences? People? Beliefs? Something your read or saw on tv?) I think what really motivated me to want to start this was attending a Leadership conference over the summer of 2012 called LeaderShape, it really shaped me into the leader that I would want to be, and helped me realize my passion of helping people can really become a reality if I have integrity and ethics. 3. What are your goals in participating in this movement? To help as many people possible in every way possible; including any race/ ethnicity/ gender/ sex/ religion, and to make sure that no one is excluded based on those premises. From children to adults, I want everyone to feel like there is someone out there who cares about them, even (and especially) when they think nobody does. 4. Are you a member of any clubs or groups (in or out of school)? What do these groups/clubs do to help your efforts? I am an extremely active member of ALPFA, the association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting in the business school. Although it’s a really small club they are helping me with trying to raise money this semester and get the women’s shelters as much help as they need. As far as ALPFA helping, they have been really supportive to fundraising ideas. For instance, this semester we’ll be doing a food drive, and next semester well be doing an awards dinner/banquet type thing to raise money for it next year as well. 5. Would you like to mention any specific people who have helped you get to where you are? (Other students? Teachers?) I feel like this is a very generic answer, but I can honestly say I would not be the person I am today without my parents raising me the way they did. They have told me from very little that they knew I was going to do something big to help the world someday and that the power of positivity can do amazing things, and they have been right all along, we at least about the power of positivity part. 6. Are there significant measures that still need to be taken to improve and increase the changes you’re making? One thing that I keep learning is that there are always more improvements to be made, and unfortunately at the moment that couldn’t be truer. I need to figure out a way to reach out to more people who are as impassioned about this cause as I am, but I’m still working on that. The people come with the spreading of the word by mouth or social media. We can tell people to back Projects for People as much as we want, but until someone really takes the time to read what it is about, they wont realize how amazing it could be in the future with enough people’s support. 7. What are your life goals and/or career plans? Ultimately my goal is to own my own nonprofit organization and for it to be as big as Habitat for Humanity, I want it to be a household name so that children can grow up knowing that the power of positivity can take them anywhere. 8. How do you plan on reaching out to students to get them to donate their leftover YCMP swipes to your organization? Right now we’re waiting to hear back from Greeno Sub Shop, a local sub shop here on campus to see if they will be coinciding with us for this semester to raise money from peoples left over cents on their YCMP’s they use to buy meals, but if that doesn’t work, looks like we have to chalk the campus! The way this works is that each YCMP meal swipe is worth $9.50 but in most cases people do not use that entire amount and the difference gets virtually thrown away. My idea was to put those pennies to use by taking the difference in money used and value of swipe. This is where the main funds for my organization will possibly come from. 9. How do you plan on getting the word out about your group and asking for help or for people to join? Right now it’s simply by word of mouth, and social networking, but hopefully in the future I’d like people to spread the word on their own and become and excited about it as I have, and that they’ll just want to help for that reason. To be honest, I may even resort to little fliers posted in random spots so people have to look at them, for instance, bathroom mirrors, doors to enter buildings, maybe even bubblers. There’s a whole cluster of ideas my team has come up with to spread the word, so don’t worry, if you are a UMASS student you’ll see it! . 10. What do you have in mind for the future of your organization? (size? projects? results?) This organization is my baby is a lot of ways, I have had businesses before, but this is really my passion and I have never wanted something to succeed so much. In ten years I’d like for it to at least have a headquarters and have helped at least 1000 people. If I can get there or further before then, I’d say I would be one happy lady. Any contributions are welcome, whether you are looking to donate your time or money, be sure to get in contact with Brittany! Email: [email protected] Personal Twitter: rumbleebee P4P Twitter: projects4ppl Tumblr: brittanydturcotte.tumblr.com ~Blog post written by Michelle Gilman, UMASS '13 Communication major, Intern at Tru2UU
