Benjamin Zenner
Marketing and Communications Intern
Fall 2009

This experience with Project C.U.R.E. has really opened up eyes to the many complexities that are involved in running a large-scale nonprofit organization. Through working, interviewing, and just my exposure to the various individuals that comprise the success of this mission, I have realized that there are an incredible amount of factors that need to converge in order to provide this aid on a global scale. My time discussing various issues with Doug Jackson and understanding how he is able to carry about his work with such a calm, very purposeful manner, has been a source of inspiration as I move into the rest of my senior year and my life after college. For some time now, I have been developing this mindset that we have an incredible amount of resources and ideas at our disposal that simply need to be integrated in order to enhance the impact that they were initially conceived to do. Project C.U.R.E. exemplifies this idea through its correlation of all of its different departments who work to raise donations, its operations and sponsors/partners that bring together thousands of volunteers on a national level, and its constant drive to propagate real change in developing countries.

Without my exposure to the infrastructure and methods of Project C.U.R.E., I would not be pursuing in the same manner my goals to create a beneficial impact on our society. I knew prior to joining this organization that I wanted to work in the nonprofit sector but never would I have conceived many of my recent plans if not for Project C.U.R.E.'s fundraising techniques such as their C.U.R.E. Coffee. The allocation of funding through the sale of consumer goods is an idea that I am going to utilize in my upcoming initiatives to not only raise capital for humanitarian efforts but to mitigate our country's gross over-consumption. Seeing how Project C.U.R.E. generates funding and diffuses its message through the media and the internet has also taught me how to generate exposure for causes. Through the creation of a Facebook Causes page and videos (about C.U.R.E. Kits and the volunteer experience), I've realized that multiple avenues of marketing techniques are necessary in order to truly reach the largest spectrum of demographics.

Project C.U.R.E.'s initiative to continue pursuing partnerships with corporations and other entities is also something that I will take from this experience. This organization is obviously highly dependent upon its sponsors and volunteers for its existence and rather than be complacent with our current partners, we constantly push ourselves to seek out more be it from a Catholic church or the US Navy. The potential that we have for continual growth is what amazes me as well as it seems like Project C.U.R.E. has nothing limiting it from achieving distribution and collection centers in every state in our country…and possibly beyond that to places like Canada and Europe.  This determination and continual expansion have definitely inspired me to not limit my goals' potential to become as widespread as that of Project C.U.R.E..  Jim Jackson's story of founding this organization through just one trip to Brazil and belief that he could send back aid without even knowing how to do so is something else I will recall as to not become overwhelmed with my own work. He learned how to do something that he had no prior exposure to through experiencing it firsthand and generating partnerships with people who had the skills necessary to get the job done most effectively.  I do understand that everything needs to initially begin at a small scale like that of Jim Jackson's garage and that is exactly what I aim to do over the next stage of my life.