Students looking to save money while making purchases on- and off-campus have a unique opportunity to make their dollars go further, thanks to Students in Free Enterprise at Indiana Wesleyan University. The student organization is currently selling discount cards, which offer savings at 12 local businesses, for $10 each.

SIFE is “an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education,” according to the group’s website. Ryan Eash (jr), a member of SIFE at IWU, describes the organization as a group of students who seek to benefit their communities “using the positive power of business.”

According to Eash, members of IWU’s section of SIFE are planning to participate in the organization’s regional competition in Cincinnati. The discount cards are being sold to help pay for the group’s travel expenses.

In trying to decide whether or not to purchase these cards, many IWU students may ask what types of discounts they can expect. All 12 of the companies offering bargains through the SIFE cards have locations in Marion. Two of them – McConn Coffee Co. and Wildcutz Salon – are located on the IWU campus. The majority of the business offering discounts through the SIFE card are food service companies

Six of the 12 companies offer discounts of 10 percent. McConn offers 20 percent off and JuJu Berry Frozen Yogurt offers 15 percent off. These discounts are reusable.

The remaining companies’ discounts are not percentage-based. The Potter’s House offers 50 cents off any ice cream purchase. According a Potter’s House employee, the cheapest ice cream offered is a single scoop for $2.39. Using the card, then, one could save up to 21 percent at that business, paying only $1.89 before tax.

Moe’s Southwest Grill offers cardholders a drink and burrito for $5, a savings of $2.08, according to the general manager of Moe’s Marion location. That’s a savings of 28 percent, making it the largest possible discount on the card, using a percentage-based scale.

Students who spend more than $50 at McConn by Aug. 31, 2012, the card’s expiration date, would save money by purchasing a SIFE discount card, and cardholders need only make five trips to Moe’s to start saving.

Students can purchase discount cards at a variety of locations around IWU, including McConn.

Indiana Wesleyan University students are among a group of local physicians and professional administrators who are creating a nonprofit organization called the Decaid Project.

Its vision is to adopt and sustain one village in Haiti each year for 10 years through health, education and economic means, though its end purpose is to show residents of those villages eternal life in Jesus Christ through building relationships.

Kevin Jones, IWU’s associate director for the online region, and Shawn Swan, a Marion OBGYN, are the co-founders of the Decaid Project. After Jones and Swan went to Haiti to set up medical tents after the earthquake, they said their hearts were moved to do more.

“We knew coming back from Haiti was not the end,” said Jones. “This wasn’t a one-time trip to help people because of a natural disaster. God had more planned.”

The co-founders jumped on this vision to start a community health initiative to be the foot-in-the-door to spreading the gospel. After sharing the vision with their church, the next day someone gave it a name, a logo and started a Facebook page.

“Everything was coming together so fast without our doing that we knew God was confirming the vision and it was going to happen,” said Swan.

“Our main goal for the Decaid Project is to establish healthy living and build relationships. These people deserve a better life, but we also believe they deserve a life in eternity,” Jones said.

“If you’re going to adopt a child, it goes way beyond the initial needs. The same goes for adopting a village,” said Swan.

“We want to sustain their growth in the community, not just meet their initial needs.” With 12,000 families living in Pikmi, the Decaid Project is two months away from having all of the families provided a latrine.

The first village the project has adopted is located on the mountainside of the western island called LaGonave, Pikmi.

The IWU students have been a major help to the establishment of the non-profit.

Michael Lipetri (sr), a public relations major, was recruited to help after Jones spoke at a SIFE meeting.

“My job is to get the Decaid Project engaged in the public and have their mission statement clear,” said Lipetri.

“The students have been the behind-scene force, helping with the logo, ideas, website development and paperwork,” said Jones. The Advanced Business Law class at IWU has taken the initiative to do all of the 501(c)(3) paperwork for the non-profit.

“We really want to get IWU students who have talents involved to help the Haitian people. It doesn’t matter what major they are, it’s more about their heart and what they’re willing to offer the people,” said Lipetri.

“Fifty dollars will provide the concrete to build a latrine, a health book, educational needs, a moringa tree – which provides protein and a family Bible,” said Swan.

There are 12 seats available to go to Pikmi May 25 through June 2.