Business Professionals of America » Service Programs » BPA Cares Service Learning Program » Community Action Award

Community Action Award

Purpose

To encourage local chapters to become actively involved in community betterment, school improvement, and election-year activities. To encourage local chapters to develop ways of involving their members in these kinds of activities. To recognize chapters for their involvement in engaged citizenry.

Eligibility

All chapters having completed a minimum of 100 hours of community and/or school service activity are eligible for the Community Action award.

Qualifications

Activities may include community and/or school service projects, election-year projects and other citizenship type activities.

Specifications

  • Each activity must be reported via a 300-800 word article written by a chapter member in the BPA.org Custom Web Site System before March 15. Each article must include the following:
  • The reason the chapter is involved in the activity.
  • A full description of the activity (what happened, how it went, who was involved).
  • The goals and results of the activity.
  • A photo related to the activity.
  • A quote from someone involved in the activity.
  • A statement regarding how many total service hours the chapter completed. (See examples below.)

        Write and submit each story using the BPA.org Custom Web Site system. When adding the story, be sure to select “Community Action Award” from the “BPA Cares” dropdown box. For information on using the BPA.org Custom Web Site system, go to http://www.bpa.org/resources/customsites
    
Examples for counting hours:    
  • 12 members voted in school mock election (only several minutes required for each) = 1 hour
  • 5 members provided transportation for elderly to voting polls–5 members x 3 hours each = 15 hours
  • 26 members collected, sorted, and distributed food baskets at Thanksgiving–hours reported ranged from
  • 1 to 5 each = 110 hours

Recognition

Up to five Secondary Division Chapters, one Post-secondary Division Chapter, and one Middle Level Chapter may receive Outstanding Achievement Award recognition and be called on stage to receive a plaque at the National Leadership Conference.

Deadline

March 15

Submission

Use the BPA.org Custom Web Site system to submit the appropriate articles as described above. Otherwise, no action is necessary. Any chapter that has written and submitted articles as specified will automatically be eligible for the award. For more information on how to use the BPA.org custom Web Site system, go to http://www.bpa.org/resources/customsites.