Supporting Communities in Need: MSU Senior, Cassidy Bartkowiak, Leads Battle for the Houses Campaign

Outside of a McDonald's restaurant, a group of students pose with Michigan State University mascot, Sparty.

The Public Relations Major uses her knowledge from PR classes to seek success with nonprofit, Ronald McDonald House Charities

By: Ashlyn Roberts

Cassidy Bartkowiak, current PR senior and Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan intern, has always been passionate about nonprofit work and event planning.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities is a nonprofit organization that provides free housing and meals to families with loved ones at nearby hospitals. The mid-Michigan house, where Bartkowiak interns, is in Lansing, Michigan, and is steps away from Sparrow Health System.

In fall 2023, the Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan and Ann Arbor teamed up for a campaign that played off the football rivalry between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. Todd (TJ) Duckett, former MSU football player, initiated this campaign after his family directly used the house when his son was born with half a heart in spring 2022.

The campaign counted community service hours and monetary donations, then combined them into a point system. The house with the most points by the last play of the MSU vs. UofM game won. This year, the Mid-Michigan house won the friendly competition by 10 points.

“Together we raised about $100,000 for both houses” said Bartkowiak. “It was really successful, especially for the first year.”

Michigan State University mascot, Sparty, poses for photo with smiling student and MSU mascot-dog, Zeke the Wonder Dog. — Cassidy Bartkowiak taps Sparty and Zeke the Wonder Dog to incentivize students and community members to attend Ronald McDonalds House Charities event.

Bartkowiak played an important role in the campaign, getting MSU students involved. She organized a pep rally at the McDonald’s on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing, Michigan, near MSU’s main campus. The pep rally was a day of fun that included Battle for the Houses t-shirts, fun giveaways, and a game where students competed by throwing a football through a hole in a giant fry box. She was able to capitalize on her knowledge from PR classes to create successful social media posts that brought more people to the event.

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“I got Sparty to come, I got the cheerleaders to come and I also got Zeke the Wonder Dog,” said Bartkowiak. “I used them to help bring the student body together to raise awareness about Battle for the Houses and Ronald McDonald House in general.”

Bartkowiak also used her knowledge from MSU PR classes to write press releases to earn national media attention, which put the battle on a larger stage. She noted that during the football team’s bye week, over 40 players volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan. The campaign gained attention when the MSU football and MSU Athletics social media accounts posted about the community service to their combined 318,000 followers.

With the success of this year’s campaign, Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan and Ann Arbor are looking to keep this battle for years to come. Bartkowiak noted that each year the winning house receives a miniature Paul Bunyan Trophy to display and that the Mid-Michigan house has lots of display spots for it for future years.

To learn more about Ronald McDonald House Charities, visit https://www.rmhmm.org.