Boys and Girls Logo for Palm Springs

The Palm Desert Campus of Cal State San Bernardino and the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs are partnering for the second consecutive year for the Coachella Valley Youth PR Collaborative – a program where students at the Palm Desert Campus serve as a marketing and PR firm for the club chapter.

CSUSB Palm Desert Campus students will work together in teams to determine key messages, and will write and produce online, press, video and radio broadcast content focused on the programs and success stories of the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs.

Students from the Palm Desert Campus, home of the Paws Radio station, will collaborate with the Boys & Girls Club to create content, from broadcasts to brochures, videos and promotional materials, to improve the outreach and impact of the nonprofit organization in a positive way.

Development of this opportunity was done in collaboration with the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs, Margaret Keung, and CSUSB broadcast and media consultant, Lacey Kendall. 

“Working with the university last year, board members and I were pleased to see how invested the students were, not only in supporting our club with their expertise, but their genuine engagement in our mission,” said Keung. “They provided new perspectives through fresh eyes and were able to promote the club in a fun and creative way. It was truly a pleasure working with the class, and I believe we all learned more than we expected.”

Kendall, a mentor to the Coachella Valley Youth PR Collaborative, said, “These students take their position as the PR firm for this great club very seriously, and the multimedia they produce is purely professional grade. I’m so happy to see this partnership continue to grow.”

“This is an exciting opportunity because of the new experience that it provides us as well as working in the real world while also helping the future of the Boys & Girls Club,” said Annie Camacho, the collaborative’s first director of communication.

Students say they are excited to learn a new experience and to gain a perspective of public relations from supporting their community.

“I think this is a great opportunity for our PR team to get a hands-on approach to working with a real nonprofit organization while leaving a positive impact on our community and making sure the youth of our community has the same opportunities down the road,” said Nancy Aispuro, the collaborative’s chief communication officer.

For more information about the Coachella Valley Youth PR Collaborative or Paws Radio, contact Lacey Kendall at (909) 890-6960 or lacey@csusb.edu.

Established in 1948, the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs is currently the largest nonprofit youth program provider in the city of Palm Springs, offering a wide range of impactful programs in a safe and supervised environment. The Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs’ mission is to enable young people, especially those that need assistance most, in becoming productive, caring and responsible citizens.

More information about the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs and their Learning Day camp in support of essential workers can be found at www.bgcps.org.

For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the Office of Strategic Communication at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107, or visit the PDC website at www.csusb.edu/pdc.