The MBS Corps is a volunteer community service program of the Maine Business School. MBS Corps organizes fundraisers for organizations such as the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, Ronald McDonald House and the Special Olympics.
The MBS Corps is currently organizing the Nets for Pets for Vets basketball tournament and dinner fundraiser. The tournament has been set up in partnership with Bangor Humane Society’s Pets for Vets, which provides therapy animals for veterans with PTSD. The dinner will be purchased from United Farmer Veterans of Maine to further support Maine’s veterans.
The Nets for Pets for Vets tournament and dinner is scheduled for March 24 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 45 Columbia St., Bangor. “We’re helping veterans, by helping veterans, we help their families and that’s sort of like a ripple-effect…we want to change the community for the better,” Michael Fagan, Vice President of Internal Marketing at MBS Corps, said.
The tournament requires a team of three. The cost is $10 per person and includes dinner. There are tournaments from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Registration forms are available on the MBS Corps website and should be sent to 5732 Donald P. Corbett Business Building, Orono, ME 04469.
Part of the fundraising efforts involved a deal with Chipotle, where half of the restaurant’s profits during specified business hours will go toward the Net for Pets for Vets fundraiser goals. Previous efforts to set up the time period on Feb. 13 were interrupted by the storm.
MBS Corps is looking for new members as well as volunteers for upcoming events. For information on volunteer opportunities email Sam Robertson at samantha.a.robertson@maine.edu. Students who are interested in becoming MBS Corps members may attend the meetings on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Students of all majors are welcome to join MBS Corps.
Teams are divided up with the purpose of tackling a particular task. For example, for the dinner there is a food team with tasks such as speaking with local foodservice people and predicting the amount of people they will need to feed. At the MBS Corps meeting on Feb. 16, members showed impressive professional collaboration in preparation for the tournament, dinner and upcoming fundraising efforts. Teams discussed their progress with each other and tried to iron out any dilemmas.
MBS Corps also engages in the Pay It Forward initiative. MBS Corps has “Payed [sic] it forward with simple acts of kindness” (PIFSAK) on several occasions. One such instance was on April 25, 2014, when MBS Corps and Mainely Voices partnered to provide a singing “PIFSAK” to patrons of the UMaine Memorial Union.
Much of MBS Corps’ volunteer activity is geared toward helping veterans. In the past it has handed out yellow ribbons at the UMaine Veterans Appreciation Football game.
The MBS also has annually participated in the Lieutenant Zimmerman Fitness Challenge. The challenge is organized in honor of UMaine Alumnus and Marine Lieutenant James Zimmerman, a Houlton, Maine native who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. The challenge requires teams of four to complete mud-run type obstacles. This year’s Zimmerman Fitness Challenge will be on April 22. Registration is $15 per person for students and $20 per person for non-students.
The MBS Corps “operates like a business, but works as a non-profit,” according to Michael Fagan, Vice President of Internal Marketing at MBS Corps. Recruiting attempts occur at beginning of the year events such as the organization’s fair and end of the semester marketing attempts bring in some students but much of the recruitment is done by word-of-mouth.
