After listening to a presentation by the United Way in their class, a small group of BYU students came up with a ten thousand dollar idea.

Giving Back: Students in Philanthropy is the organization that stemmed from that idea. Their plan was to use this organization to raise money for charity and inform people about service opportunities in their community. The students presented their ideas to the United Way and gained the organization's support for the large-scale student initiative.

"A couple of us that listened to the presentation started talking about what we could do and it just kind of grew," said David Trichler, founder of Giving Back: Students in Philanthropy.

Friday, the first of their ideas came to fruition as they teamed up with the United Way of Utah County to host a charity ball and auction at the Provo City Library. The ball, complete with desserts, virgin cocktails and live music, attracted around three hundred people. Giving Back raised over ten thousand dollars to donate to the United Way.

"I think Utah County is unique when you think about the type of students that would give up a Friday night to attend an auction and give up all that money," Trichler said. "I don't know that many other places would have that."

The black-tie affair began with live classical and jazz music, followed by a silent auction, a live auction and a dance. Representatives from the United Way gave a presentation to inform people of service opportunities in the community.

Members of the planning committee were happy with the outcome of the evening and said it exceeded their expectations.

Trichler said the purpose of the charity ball and auction was twofold: to educate people about service opportunities in the community and to raise money to give to the United Way. The charity ball fulfilled that purpose.

"There is this misconception that you have to be graduated with a degree and you have to have a job and money to be able to do something or to make a difference," said Lauren Knox, a member of the charity ball planning committee. "We want to educate people; we want them to know that there are things they can do right now, that they don't have to wait until they graduate, have a job and have money."

Giving Back received a lot of support from local businesses and other contributors for the auction. Some items auctioned at the event included a private piano concert from Jon Schmidt, paragliding lessons, Jazz tickets, a Kaplan study course and even dugout seats to a BYU baseball game. They also auctioned off gift certificates to many local restaurants.

"At this point local businesses have donated money so we have covered our overhead, so every ticket that is bought and every item that is auctioned off one hundred percent of that will go to the United Way," Trichler said.

According to the Giving Back website and blog, the event will benefit the Children's Readiness for School Initiative. The United Way works with different charities to aid children's literacy at school, provide medical and dental insurance for them and help children with mental and physical disabilities.

"We worry so much about the global problems that sometimes we miss what's happening in our own backyard," said Scott Hannay, a member of the charity ball planning committee. "We know the money raised will help address some of the local problems."

Trichler said he hopes to have similar events in the future and that the Giving Back organization will continue even after he graduates.

"The real focus right now is how we can continue this and make it an annual thing," Trichler said. "We want students and businesses and community support programs to work together hand in hand."

Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Apr 2007