Ithaca College Students Help “Two Friends” in Need

By Patrick Bohn ’05, May 8, 2020
Students in a capstone IMC course execute the “Burritos for Heroes” campaign for Dos Amigos food truck.
Dos Amigos Food Truck

Several IC students have spent the spring semester helping the Dos Amigos food truck with promotion and publicity.

(Photo courtesy of Grant Thomson '21)

Several IC students have spent the spring semester helping the Dos Amigos food truck with promotion and publicity.

(Photo courtesy of Grant Thomson '21)

Operating a food truck during a global pandemic where gathering in crowds is discouraged — if not banned — in some areas might seem like an untenable proposition. But with the help of six Ithaca College students, Jorge Bouras, owner of the Dos Amigos food truck in Ithaca, has found a way to continue selling his Mexican food during the coronavirus crisis, all while giving back to local essential workers through a “Burritos for Heroes” campaign.

In assistant professor of strategic communication Lisa Farman’s integrated marketing communications senior capstone course, IC students gain real-world experience by working with local business owners and coming up with promotion and publicity ideas. This semester, the team of Grant Thomson ’20, Lily Donoghue ’20, Jacob Lange ’20, Cassandra Bauer ’20, Charlotte Steinberg ’20, and Zoe Levitt ’20 were collaborating with Bouras, running the company’s social media accounts to try to attract more of their fellow Ithaca College students.

And the outreach was going well, until the outbreak forced Ithaca College and Cornell to switch to remote instruction for the rest of the spring semester. Suddenly, Dos Amigos was left without a major segment of its customer base. And Thomson and his classmates were left wondering what they could do to make the course meaningful.

“Rather than have a pity party when everything changed for them, this team redirected their efforts to the greater good and came up with a great idea that is helping this business survive.”

Lisa Farman, assistant professor of strategic communication

“Like all IC students, we spent some time just trying to figure out our own situation,” he said. “We were bummed out. But then we shifted our focus back to what was important: learning. We were going to make the best of this situation.”

The group had plans to brainstorm a marketing campaign with Bouras after returning from spring break, so their regular phone call with him that week turned into a brainstorm session. Eventually, Bouras suggested donating food to essential workers. Burritos for Heroes was born.

Thomson and his teammates loved the idea. But the idea was the easy part. Working out the logistics was trickier.

What I Can Do Logo

“We didn’t want to overpromise and under-deliver,” he said. “And we couldn’t just show up somewhere unannounced with food.”

The students reached out to Cayuga Medical Center, to see if they’d be interested in taking part in the philanthropic outreach. The hospital said yes. So, every week, with each of the first 50 orders of more than $10, Dos Amigos earmarks a burrito for CMC. They then reach out to the medical center to coordinate a day and time to drop off the food.

“It feels really good to know that even though we can’t do a lot to help during the pandemic, the little we can do goes a long way.”

Grant Thomson ’20

Although it’s only been a few weeks, the campaign has been a success.

“People are mentioning the program when they place an order,” Thomson said. “It feels really good to know that even though we can’t do a lot to help during the pandemic, the little we can do goes a long way.”

The group hopes to reach out to other organizations to expand the program. And for Farman, seeing this public outreach is a prime example of how IC students embody the college’s strategic plan tenet of being a private college for the public good. 

“Our students are very interested in corporate social responsibility and how they can do more than focus on the bottom line,” she said. “And this program is a great example of that. Rather than have a pity party when everything changed for them, this team redirected their efforts to the greater good and came up with a great idea that is helping this business survive.”