When LeTourneau University students Mario Olvera and Justin Rector went into business together a few months ago, their main objective was to win a business competition against nine other teams. Not only did Olvera and Rector win the competition handily, but the animals at the Humane Society of Northeast Texas benefited from their hard work as well.

Each team was given $10 in seed money from the university business department to start their own business. The competition lasted one month with the most profitable team winning the competition and splitting its proceeds with a charity of their choice.

Olvera and Rector decided to start a business in which each already had considerable experience: lawn care. Their first job, however, was to install a hot tub for a couple in White Oak who only needed labor to install their already-purchased supplies. The team spent $6 on gas to get to the job site and earned $100. With that $94 profit, the pair completed more projects, mostly in lawn care, and after one month had earned $1,035 in assets against $288 in liabilities.

"It was a lot of hard work," said Olvera, a senior business management major. "There were a couple of days we worked in the rain."

The pair received their first-place honors during a LeTourneau University assembly in November and presented the Humane Society with a donation of $378.50 on December 15th.

When asked why they chose to donate to the Humane Society, Rector replied, "because we love animals and those in the shelter need all the help they can get."

Justin Rector, left, and Mario Olvera are pictured with their donation and a shelter friend.