Students at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) have collected more than $6,600 and 56 boxes of supplies to support the Liberia Mental Health Clinicians Association, a nursing organization in Liberia that is working to end the spread of Ebola in that country.
Mount Sinai’s “End the Outbreak” campaign was created by first-year medical student Caitlin Driscoll last fall, after she says she perceived “a lack of conversation about what was happening around Ebola and felt, as med students, we should respond in some way.”
She and her fellow students organized a series of on- and off-campus fundraising events and began collecting supplies and monetary donations throughout the Mount Sinai Health System. Fundraisers included a trivia night, an evening held at Crank Cycling Studio on the Upper East Side, and an on-campus auction of services and items donated by students.
At the auction, Shari Kaplan, Director of the Care and Respect for Elders and Emergencies Volunteer Program at Mount Sinai, won an Indian cooking class in her home, led by first-year medical student Leela Chockalingam.
“Medical students bring such a wealth of diversity,” says Ms. Kaplan. “This was a lovely way to experience a taste of a different culture. And of course, it was for a good cause, which made the experience even lovelier.”
To make a donation, please visit: philanthropy.mountsinai.org/donate. Select “Medical Students Making Impacts” in the designation drop-down menu and write “Ebola Relief” in the comments section. All donations will be used to purchase supplies and are 501(c) (3) tax deductible.