SU-SIFE, Whitman students to lead major clean-up of Rescue Mission warehouse

A group of more than 50 students from Syracuse University, led by members of the SU chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SU-SIFE) based in the Whitman School of Management, will volunteer their time to undertake a major clean-up of the Rescue Mission’s warehouse, located in Liverpool, this Friday, Dec. 2, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The students are cleaning out the warehouse in preparation for a new supply chain set-up that SU-SIFE’s Rescue Mission Project student leadership team has devised, in order to help make the Rescue Mission’s local Thrifty Shopper stores more profitable, create more volume and do even more good for the local community.

SIFE students have been working on the project with Alan Thornton, chief operations officer for the Rescue Mission, and SIFE faculty adviser Amanda Nicholson, professor of retail practice at Whitman, since the summer. Using their retail and supply chain management skills, the students created a more streamlined supply chain organization and process, with the ultimate goal of staging a warehouse sale sometime in 2012. With Thornton, the team had an extensive tour of the facility in Liverpool and created their supply chain plan based off of the tour and extensive conversations with Thornton and Rescue Mission staff.

“The Rescue Mission is so pleased to be able to work in partnership with these very talented Syracuse University students and Professor Nicholson. Implementing the processes they have designed will greatly increase the value and customer service we are able to offer to our loyal Thrifty Shopper customers. The end result will be the Rescue Mission’s ability to better fulfill our mission to the homeless and hurting individuals we serve every day of the year,” says Thornton.

The SU students are being led by senior Matt Gartner, president of SU-SIFE; junior Camellia Loojune, president-elect of SU-SIFE; and Rescue Mission Project student leadership, Whitman students senior Ashley Williams, senior Noemie Lefebvre, senior Rachel Chachoua and senior Nicole Mendelson. In addition, students from SU’s Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, Whitman’s professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi and Whitman’s international business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi will volunteer their time and manpower to take part in the warehouse clean-up.

“This project with the Rescue Mission is a wonderful opportunity for our students to both give back and contribute their skills and knowledge to helping one of Syracuse’s most worthy service organizations. We are delighted to be a part of this process,” says Nicholson.