Amber MacPherson, Alexis Cameron, Jordan Shephard and Rachel Kinghorn of 'Upstanding', the group of Bond University students selling laptop stands to fundraise for CEF.
Students from rural and regional areas will benefit from over $6000 that was raised for Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF) by Upstanding, a group of Business students at Queensland's Bond University.
Charity Partner: CEF
Project: Business Model Execution Unit
Degree: Bachelor of Business
University: Bond University
Funds Raised: $6606.30
The students were part of a capstone project under the Business Model Execution unit of their Bachelor of Business degree, which tasked them with replicating a real-life business operation, and they chose to design, market, and sell laptop stands.
The project, which ran for 12 weeks and finished on 5th April, also required them to select a charity to fundraise for, and they chose CEF as charity partner.
Proceeds from the laptop stand sales, as well as raffle tickets, totalled $6606.30 and will help CEF in its critical work supporting youth in regional and rural areas accessing post school education and employment.
Amber McPherson, one of the Upstanding students and its Finance and Operations Coordinator, said they chose CEF as its charity partner because of CEF's clear impact on its students.
"I'm originally from Walcha in regional NSW and I understand how hard it can be for regional students to get to university," she said.
"We Googled education charities and came across CEF and chose it as our charity partner."
We wanted to choose a charity where you can see where the money goes and see its impact, and one that supports students.
– Amber MacPherson, Upstanding student.
Photos from the Upstanding project. The students sold around 150 of their laptop stands and hosted market stalls at various university events to promote them and CEF.
Upstanding sold its laptop stands online through its website, www.upstandingco.com, and marketed them on its Instagram page, @upstandingco, Bond University student newsletters and alumni email communication.
CEF CEO Wendy Mason said it was grateful for being chosen as the charity partner for the project.
"It's a wonderful initiative and we are so grateful they have chosen CEF to support. Our rural and regional students will benefit directly from their efforts," she said.
Upstanding also supported CEF's inaugural Boot Bash campaign in March by hosting an event at Cocktails Night Club in Surfer's Paradise, which offered free entry to registered Bond University students on Friday 1st March, donating $10 per student to CEF. This raised around $200.
Upstanding Students: Amber MacPherson, Alexis Cameron, Jordan Shephard, Aaron Papadopoulos, Fei Tong, Nate Smyth, Rachel Kinghorn
