50:50 Campaign Spotlight: Casey Blaha

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casey kids2During our first winter clinic week in beautiful Riobamba, Ecuador we pulled aside one of our oustanding student fundraisers, Casey Blaha, to find out how she was able to raise $1,350 utilizing the 50-50 Campaign and participate in a Mobile Clinic at no cost.

She started off by explaining how she got the word out. “I sent a lot of personal emails to relatives, families, friends, and friends-of-friends. My dad and brother also sent me a list of contacts and I created a standard email template -- which I then personalized -- explaining the trip,” she shared. “I wrote about how I would be working with different doctors to bring health services to villages that don't have access to medicine and how it would be a great opportunity. I also explained how 50 percent would go to helping me and the other 50 percent would be donated directly to MEDLIFE.”

Casey attributes a big part of her success to the MEDLIFE website campaign page. “I think much motivation spung from the fact that you can see who has donated on the website, and once people began to see that other people were donating, they wanted to contribute as well. My family and friends also helped me by posting statuses on Facebook to share the link to my campaign; that extended the reach to additional friends in their networks.”

casey toothbrushingMEDLIFE's mission was first brought to her attention through an email she recevied through a pre-med listserv. She then consulted her friend Neil, who had attended a Mobile Clinic during the prior year, for his first-hand account on the experience. “He knew I was interested in pre-medicine and this type of work, so after speaking a little more with him and attending an informational session I decided it would be a great opportunity for me.”

Her most memorable experience with the Mobile Clinic occured during her very first day, “I had no idea what to expect. I remember seeing the line of people waiting in the vitals station, and just seeing how excited and gracious they were that we were there. Everyone is very thankful and will come up and thank you multiple times, and I just got this sense after only a day's work that I was actually making a difference in someone's life.” 

Casey also noted, in the blog that she kept throughout the Mobile Clinic, how she witnessed how her and other students' fundraising dollars are being used in the follow-up treatment for our patients:

"Another woman complained of a sore knee and when she pulled up her skirt her leg was swollen and bumpy. The veins below her knee were clogged and not functioning properly. It looked like rocks inside her skin. She will visit the hospital later this week to get surgery to clean out her veins – all paid by MEDLIFE through donations. One baby was an emergency case and was diagnosed with pneumonia. I listened to her breathing. It was heavier and thicker compared to healthy lungs. When the doctor told the mother that the baby was sick and that the amoxicillin wasn’t working, the woman cried. We comforted her by explaining that MEDLIFE would pay for the expenses. We explained that everything was going to be ok. We took the baby and her mother to the hospital on the way back to Riobamba; that was a very emotional experience for me." 

Casey urges fellow students to participate and utilize the campaign as well. “ think that all you have to do is send a link to your campaign, and you will see that most people are more willing to help you than you might expect. I'm also planning to send a thank you email with some photos that I took in order to share the experience with my donors.” 

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