Columbus Technical College Helps Charities with Their Website Needs

December 14, 2007 - It’s called the “Community Website Initiative”, or “CWI” and Columbus Technical College Web design students dove in to it head first. The Community Website Initiative offers charitable organizations the opportunity to have a Web site built by CTC students. In addition, instruction is also provided on how to maintain the Web sites that the students have built.

According to Frank Futyma, the faculty member in charge of the eCommerce and Web Design program, agencies must meet three criteria for consideration for the Community Website Initiative. They are:

Be nonprofit
Provide a significant service to the local community
Have a documentable financial need

Futyma said, “The program enables students to get practical work experience with building Web sites and do something very good for our community.”

Being able to build a website from the conceptual stages to the final design is a quarter-long project for the Columbus Technical College students. Not only do these students get graded on the project but its also great experience and resume fodder to use when they are ready to enter the workforce.

One charity that has benefited from this partnership is “Santa’s Castle.” Santa’s Castle helps needy children of soldiers have a happy holiday. The organization accepts donations of toys and/or money and houses the goodies in a special store at Fort Benning. But unlike a typical store, everything in Santa’s Castle is free. For more information, visit www.SantasCastle.org.

“I'm very happy that designing web pages is actually turning into something more than a hobby for me,” said Aaron Kinser, a Columbus Technical College Website Design Student and Webmaster for the Santa’s Castle Website. He added, “I am able to use the knowledge that I have acquired in web design to help out a good cause.”

The Santa's Castle website was built by Columbus Technical College students as part of the Community Website Initiative.

If you want to learn more about the Community Website Initiative or know of a non-profit organization that may be able to use this service, please contact Frank Futyma at Columbus Technical College’s School of Business and Information Systems at (706) 649-0533 or email FFutyma@ColumbusTech.edu.