For the second consecutive year, the College of Pharmacy Relay for Life team, captained by second year pharmacy student Rachel Lebovic, and known as the “Pill Pushers” held a faculty networking auction to raise money for Relay for Life. The auction raised $5,990, nearly doubling its total from last year, when the Pill Pushers were the third most successful Relay for Life fundraising team in the entire University of Michigan.
Relay for Life is a nationwide fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, dedicated celebrating the success of cancer survivors, remembering those lost, and fighting back against cancer today. Funds raised are used to support research, to spread awareness, and provide support for patients still fighting the battle and their families. Fundraising teams from across the nation compete to raise funds through a variety of methods. Relay for Life culminates each year with a 24 hour walk, held this year on April 14th through April 15th, at Palmer Field, where team members from the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor community spend a full day walking and celebrating the progress made against cancer.
In addition to the Faculty Networking Auction, the Pill Pushers have put together an array of other events including a grilled cheese and tomato soup fundraiser at the College of Pharmacy, and a trivia night sponsored by APhA to be held later this semester. This Relay for Life effort is a collaborative effort between all of the pharmacy student organizations with each organization taking the lead on at least one fundraising event. Last year the Pill Pushers raised over $13,000 and hope to raise a total of $15,000 this year.
The concept behind the Faculty Networking Auction is simple: a group of pharmacy faculty volunteer their time and money to take students under their wing, help teach them the art of networking, and provide a fun-filled evening suited to the faculty’s and students’ tastes. The students, for their part, competitively bid on the faculty member, or members, that they were most interested in networking with. The University of Michigan faculty came forth with a broad and creative array of options, ranging from home-cooked meals, to water-skiing, to an airplane-ride-dinner-extravaganza (this last one went for a whopping $140 per student).
The auction experience itself was a terrific time. Each of the seventeen faculty members up for live auction had a pre-selected musical introduction, dancing sometimes included, and an opportunity up on stage to sell their event to the approximately fifty students present (representing roughly one eighth of the entire College of Pharmacy) The auctioneering talent and the enthusiasm was expertly provided by third year pharmacy student Rebecca Kurian. The event was spearheaded by Krystal Sheerer, Tony Lin, Macey Edson, and Mindy Wilfong with planning assistance by Rachel Lebovic; they deserve a special thanks for their essential role in putting the event together and making its success possible.
Given the success of this year’s Faculty Networking Auction, it’s a near certainty that the Pill Pushers will be back at it next year, raising money, building awareness, and doing their part in the broader fight against cancer and the damage it causes.
For those interested in donating to the Pill Pushers effort to support Relay for Life, visit their webpage at http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/?team_id=1011938&pg=team&fr_id=37740
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