Business Connections: When DECA members work in their communities, they are following the lead of the businesses they hope one day to join. The basic mission of a business may be to make a profit, but businesses now include in their mission opportunities to give back to their communities. They want to demonstrate to their customers their desire to take responsibility for their activities and to help others in need. Beyond genuine good will, their business-related motives range from the value of a good public image to taking advantage of financial incentives to do good. On those occasions when DECA members join with businesses to help others, the learning is immense, cognitively and emotionally.

Consistent with our philosophy of encouraging local decisions and creativity, DECA's community service programs provide recognition for chapter activities that are designed and implemented by local chapters to address needs the chapter has identified in the local community. These recognition programs focus on several competitive events:

Community Service Project Competitive Event
DECA's Community Service Project provides the teacher with a tool to integrate community service directly into classroom learning. The project applies the planning, organization and evaluation skills taught as parts of units on personal development, leadership, time management, and team building into a motiivational, community-based project that engages the entire class. The competition enhances these experiences by providing opportunities for the students to sharpen their academic skills of written communication through developing a business report and their presentation skills through an oral presentation (with graphics) before a panel of business people serving as judges.

The following links provide specific information and samples related to the project.

Community Service Project Guidelines

Community Service Sample Project

Public Relations Project Competitive Event
The Public Relations Project combines many of the same elements as the Community Service Project providing an opportunity to apply the skills needed in planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating a single public relations campaign conducted by the chapter. The campaign may focus on any topic or subject of interest to the chapters. Projects often partner with a community organization to promote community awareness on a wide variety of issues from highway safety to hunger. The competition enhances these experiences by providing opportunities for students to sharpen their academic skills of written communication by developing a business report and their presentation skills through an oral presentation (with graphics) before a panel of business people serving as judges.

The following links provide specific information and samples related to the project.

Public Relations Project Guidelines

Public Relations Sample

The Muscular Dystrophy Association
DECA has worked with the Muscular Dystrophy Association for over a quarter century as MDA delivered treatments and cures for more than 40 muscle-wasting disorders that affect more than a million Americans, including nine forms of muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and other myopathies. MDA serves adults and children with neuromuscular diseases at 240 hospital-affiliated clinics nationwide, and offers an unparalleled program of medical and support services. DECA chapters have raised over $5,000,000 for MDA's work. DECA chapters frequently help staff MDA's Summer Camp Program. MDA provides summer camping activities geared toward the needs and abilities of affected children. In 2005, MDA sponsored 90 weeklong camp sessions in 42 states and Puerto Rico for more than 4,100 children and their one-on-one volunteer counselors.

In addition to research and education, the 200 local offices of MDA provide direct services such as support groups, orthopedic aids and MDA summer camps. These local offices provide a great partnership opportunity for DECA chapters as they plan and executive community wide activities. (Your local MDA office can be identified by going to www.mdausa.org and entering your ZIP code.)

To encourage DECA chapter participation, MDA recognizes DECA chapters that raise the most money each year, the winning chapter appears on the annual Labor Day Telethon (check it out at www.mdausa.org/telethon).

Leadership Training
An established element of DECA's leadership training programs is the call to community service. Because civic responsibility is important in developing leaders, the leadership academies at DECA's conferences and the programs of work of many officer teams include community service activities.

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