FIU Business students in Donald Roomes’ organization and management course raised $9,512 this spring to help make a wish come true for Valentina, a Make-A-Wish child whose dream is to visit Morgan’s Wonderland, an accessible theme park designed for children with special needs.
The fundraising effort is part of an annual tradition in Roomes’ management course, where students partner with Make-A-Wish Southern Florida through the Wishmakers on Campus program. Each semester, students apply leadership, teamwork and business strategy to support a child with a critical illness while putting classroom lessons into practice.
This year marked the first time the class set out to double its traditional $5,000 fundraising goal, aiming instead for $10,000. While they fell just short, the students far exceeded the usual benchmark, making this one of the most successful campaigns since the initiative began in 2020.
“We decided as a collective, as a group, to raise $10,000, so this was the first year to raise that much,” said Mia Saad, an international business major and first-year student. “It felt like a big thing for all of us, but we tried to make it through, and it was possible.”
The class divided into 10 teams, with each team responsible for raising $1,000. Saad, who served as team leader for Team Seven, helped break the goal down even further by encouraging each student to aim for about $167.
“I spammed all my socials, reached out to everyone in my contacts and tried to connect with as many people as I could,” Saad said. “We raised about $600 in the first couple of weeks, and that made it much easier for the rest of the team.”
Students used a variety of creative fundraising strategies, from classroom presentations and social media outreach to donating tips from part-time jobs and selling small crafts. Some also partnered with student organizations to host tabling events on campus.
Accounting major Erin Iturrey, who served as the class leader, helped coordinate the campaign by creating flyers, tracking donations and keeping students accountable throughout the semester.
“I made an Excel sheet to track who had reached their goals and who still needed help,” Iturrey said. “Breaking it down made the $10,000 feel less like a huge hurdle.”
Her team alone raised $1,600 through tabling events offering donuts, dirty sodas and candy in exchange for donations, along with outreach to family, friends and coworkers.
The project also reinforced lessons from the classroom.
“As business students, we’re learning about money and how to make sure revenue outweighs costs,” Iturrey said. “We had to think about how to raise money without overspending, because at the end of the day, we wanted as much as possible to go toward Valentina.”
For Saad, keeping Valentina at the center of the project helped motivate students through the more difficult moments.
“We’re not doing this for ourselves. We’re doing this for Valentina,” she told her team. “This is not just a grade. This is for the greater good of this person.”
Since Roomes launched the Make-A-Wish partnership in 2020, FIU Business students have raised $72,552 to help grant life-changing wishes for children across South Florida.
For many students, the experience leaves a lasting impact long after the semester ends.
“This really inspired me,” Saad said. “It was fun, engaging and meaningful. It made me want to keep finding ways to help people in my community.”
