On Oct. 27, Catawba’s American Marketing Association (Cat-AMA) student club teamed up with local Salisbury restaurant, Downtown Bangkok, to host a fundraising event. This event was open to both Catawba students and the local community.

Each participant was taught how to make three different sushi rolls and introduced to many different delicious cuisine items. The owner of this restaurant, Mrs. Tang, worked with the student club in this endeavor and was extremely supportive of the group.

Ashlee McNabb, a member of the student group who co-directed the event with fellow student Nicholas Vassello, stated, “Mrs. Tang was extremely nice and willing to work with our group in any way to help our team in our fundraising experience. She offered up an abundance of generosity that was shown to each of our Catawba students, along with local individuals who came out to support Catawba.”

The event was a student fundraising project to raise money for Catawba students to travel to the American Marketing Association’s International Collegiate Conference held in New Orleans in March 2016. The students hope to represent Catawba in numerous competitions, some of which offer financial scholarships and other prizes for winning teams.

When students informed Mrs. Tang of their desire to attend the competition she was eager to help by offering the sushi-making class taught by her son, Tim.

Sheryl Fry, another attendee of the event, stated, “I loved the event. It was so much fun! It was great to see that a local business like Downtown Bangkok could team up with Catawba students to do a fundraiser. Through this event I was able to learn new things and make new friends!”

In summing up the event, Ashlee McNabb shared, “I feel that it was successful in many different aspects. It was a learning experience for Catawba’s AMA team to see both our weaknesses and strengths through advertising and communication. We were able to apply many of the topics our instructors teach us in the class in a real-world environment in an innovative and exciting way.

“We also were able to get our team’s name out in the community as part of a partnership with a local entrepreneur. The partnership looks to continue by offering another sushi night later this semester. This event will be on Dec. 1, 2015 and hopes to build on past successes. I am so eager to see what this next event has in store, and the areas we are able to improve on as a team!”