Silent Auction Proceeds Benefit Student Groups
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| Among the 100 medical students helping to make the 2007 Silent Auction Fundraiser a success are (from left) Martin Pham, Arjun Venkatesh, Meghan O’Halloran, and Nafis Ahmed. |
On April 12 approximately 300 members of the Feinberg School community enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, live classical music, and elegant Indian Garba dancing while supporting student organizations at the school’s fourth annual Silent Auction Fundraiser. Proceeds exceeded $15,000 for the event, which featured more than 75 donations ranging from tickets for a children’s theater production to an overnight stay at the Peninsula hotel. The proceeds will be distributed among 35 student-run organizations and activities, including the Devon and Chinatown health clinics for the uninsured and underserved, Teen Health Outreach and Camp Wildcat for inner city children in Chicago, Latino Cultural Medical Association, Musicians in Medicine, and the Life Sciences Technology Club.
Remarks first-year student Meghan A. O’Halloran, co-head of the event’s publicity committee and a member of the Medical Student Senate, which organized the event, “The silent auction was a huge success. The involvement and diversity of student groups is a distinctive strength of the Feinberg School of Medicine that draws prospective students. Not only did the event raise money for free clinics, outreach organizations, clubs, and associations run by students, but it also brought the medical school community together for a common purpose.”
Planning for the silent auction began in November, with about 100 students participating by soliciting donations, obtaining publicity, and being on hand at the auction to help in numerous ways, including selling tickets for two raffles. Event organizers found creative ways for incorporating a medical theme in the Split the Pot raffle, for which participants could purchase an arm’s length of tickets for $10, an arm span’s length for $20, or a head’s circumference for $6. Winner Steve Garcia, a first-year medical student, received half the earnings of the raffle, or $207.
One of the most desirable items available was a workshop with Homaro Cantu, the daring chef at restaurant Moto, where cooking implements go beyond spatulas and saucepans to include a centrifuge and an ion particle gun. The workshop was valued at $300, but dueling bids brought the final offer to $550. Organizers quickly called Moto, which offered a second workshop so both bidders would be winners.
Sponsors of the event included the Medical Student Senate; Offices of Student Programs and Professional Development, Alumni Relations, and Development; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Alumni Association; and a dozen corporate sponsors. Special assistance was provided by first-year students Martin Pham, Leslie Kim, Kathy Hahn, Lindsay Kuo, and Jason Rho; Jennifer Langland of the student programs office; and Theresa Killebrew and Meredith Howell of the development office.