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What is Shop with a Bulldog (SWAB)?
SWAB is a 501 (c) 3 non profit at the University of Georgia in Athens operated by 150+ student volunteers who organize an annual Event Day for local Athens Elementary schoolers. Every year, UGA students sign up for Event Day, fundraise, then spend a Sunday in November with an Athens student, holiday shopping at Walmart with funds each UGA student raises.
Since 2009, our yearly Event Day has represented a way for UGA students to get involved with the Athens community and support local students directly through mentorship on Event Day. Even beyond this amazing support from UGA students, community truly is our bread and butter: SWAB is also community fundraised. Our internal operations are supported by hundreds of donors across Georgia and the US, allowing for SWAB to be independently run by an Executive Board of 22 students without any professional support.
SWAB is a true opportunity for students to come together with a simple but clear shared goal: sharing joy. We hope you are as inspired with this community as we are, get involved with the SWAB mission to be a part of the joy!
The History of SWAB
SWAB was founded by UGA students, Codie Haddon, Kaitlyn O'Keefe and Caitlyn Searles in 2009 as freshmen at the University of Georgia. In our first year, we were able to raise $10,000 and invite 46 children to shop for the holidays. In our third year, we raised over $40,000 and took 210 children shopping. In 2018, we invited over 650 children to our event and raised over $120,000. SWAB has grown substantially over the past 10 years, and we hope to continue to grow in years to come.
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ATHENS COMMUNITY
Every year we strive to have a lasting relationship with the Athens-Clarke County elementary school system. We stay in constant communication with the schools' family engagement specialists to organize the logistics of event day. Each family engagement specialist can invite a certain number of children depending on the number of participating mentors and the amount of money raised. Depending on the school, family engagement specialists invite children based on financial need or academic achievement. At the event, family engagement specialists help check-in and monitor children. Our event would not be possible without the collaboration of the community and the elementary school system.
Aside from our relationship with the Athens school system, we yearn to maintain relationships with local businesses, and we aim to strengthen our community engagement every year. We have implemented a sponsorship program to improve our presence within the community. An essential part of our mission is to celebrate the value of community, so we want to involve as many local business as possible.
SWAB X UGA
The UGA community is integral to our organization. On event day, each elementary student is paired with two UGA mentors. The UGA students spend a day having fun and getting to know an elementary student. Each participating UGA student raises $75 before event day, creating a total of $150 per child. The number of mentors directly affects the number of children we are able to invite, so we strive to increase the number of mentors every year. Our hope for event day is for UGA and elementary students to have fun together and brighten each other's day.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to celebrate the value of community, the excitement of the holidays, and the children of Athens.
OUR VISION
Our vision is for Shop with a Bulldawg to grow every year. We would love to invite as many children as possible to participate in our event day. In the future, we want our organization to provide more events to collaborate with the community. Our organization is taking small steps each year to ensure the organization's growth overtime.
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