Throughout this year the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Kokomo, Indiana has teamed up with a local non-profit called Samaritan Caregivers. Instead of doing just one event with them, the campus has actually come together and has volunteered for three different activities in which they needed assistance. Creating strong local partnerships with meaningful organizations is of the utmost importance to the campus.
The first time they joined them this year was when more than 20 Ross students, faculty members, and staff volunteered to clean up a Samaritan Caregivers client’s yard. This project ended up being a two part process because there was so much to complete. “Ms. DeVona had a good list for us to work on,” shared Campus Director Shannon Spencer. “So we took two days to get her yard completed.”
The second time the campus was able to help out was by collecting prizes for a BINGO game and then helping hand them out during the game. “Boy did we have fun with this!” said Shannon Spencer. “The clients wanted items such as Kleenex, chapstick, hand sanitizer, and other personal use items as prizes. So we collect different items on campus for prizes then we headed over to play some BINGO. What we learned was there is an app for BINGO!”
The third and final activity that is currently ongoing is Adopt-a-Grandparent. There are many elderly people in Howard County who are isolated or estranged from their family. The campus staff, faculty, and students thought it would be nice to put a smile on their face by just sending them a card in the mail. To make that happen, Samaritan Caregivers has given them 50 names of people that need a smile on their face. Once a month the campus will mail cards to them. Samaritan Caregivers even gave each student a bracelet to remind them that they have adopted a grandparent!