From left are Natasha Muhametzyanova, Asia Waggle and Kendra Rhodes, public relations majors.

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., March 30, 2018 — West Liberty University senior public relations students, Natasha Muhametzyanova, Kendra Rhodes and Asia Waggle are offering their services to Tri-County Help Center, a local non-profit that works with victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.  

The service project is the public relations senior capstone assignment for a course taught by Tammie Beagle, assistant professor of communications. Throughout the years, students in the capstone course have helped a variety of nonprofits, including animal shelters, children’s homes and child advocacy organizations.

“Our class really helps us utilize everything we learned about the public relations profession and apply it to real life scenarios,” said Rhodes, who is from Bridgeport, Ohio. Students also must write a group paper on their capstone work and present on it at the senior colloquium.

WLU students reached out to the Tri-County Help Center, located in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in February.

“There is always a lot of work to be done. We appreciate all the help we can get,” said executive director Cathy Campbell, adding that the center welcomes volunteers and interns year around.

“We knew we wanted to contribute to a worthy cause,” Waggle said. “We came across Tri-County Help Center in our search of local organizations and after meeting with their staff, it was apparent we chose a phenomenal organization. We’re happy we picked a place that has such a passionate staff.”

The group started working on educational materials and social media outreach and will create brochures, posters and press kit materials over the course of two months. The WLU students work will be finished by the end of April. 

The students also are assisting the non-profit in advertising for the organization’s biggest fundraiser event of the year, Designer Bag and Vendor Bingo. The bingo, featuring designer bags from Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Coach and more, will take place from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday, April 14 at the Marian Hall in St. Mary’s Church located at 212 W Main St., St Clairsville.

“It’s important for us to promote this fundraiser because this event brings people from the local community together and financially supports much-needed educational and counseling services for the victims of domestic violence,” said Muhametzyanova who is an international student from Turkmenistan.

“This capstone also helped us as students since we gained real world experience with clients,” she added.

Founded in 1979, Tri-County Help Center, Inc is a non-profit organization committed to provide Belmont, Harrison and Monroe County residents with quality mental health recovery services, free emergency shelters for victims of violence and a crisis hotline. For more information, contact Tri-County Help Center at 740-695-5441.

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