Students Honor Mission of Mercy
April 24, 2009 No CommentsPress Release for McDaniel Free Press
A group of McDaniel College students hosted a celebration/awareness event on campus Monday, April 20, to honor Mission of Mercy for meeting the healthcare needs of Carroll County’s uninsured for 15 years. The all-day event featured a visual display in Red Square that represented the 8,200 patient visits that have been performed by Mission of Mercy in Carroll County since the organization began serving the community in 1994. In addition, Mission of Mercy volunteers offered free blood pressure screenings and tours of the 29-foot mobile clinic.
The Mission Of Mercy celebration is part of McDaniel College’s continued efforts to offer more service learning opportunities for students. Christy Beatty, a 2009 Social Work major, and Mary Beth Bounds, a 2009 Political Science major, organized the event as part of their internship with Mission of Mercy through Professor Julia Jasken’s Writing for Nonprofit Organizations class.
“Aside from wanting to publicly acknowledge Mission of Mercy for their commendable service to our community, I feel it’s important for college students to have a thorough understanding of how many uninsured people there actually are here in Carroll County,” says Beatty. “Additionally, I think it’s important that we promote awareness of this problem among the student body because this will be something that they could possibly be dealing with after graduation.”
Bounds also adds that most students remain isolated on campus and rarely see what is going on in the local Carroll community.
Mission of Mercy is a medical nonprofit organization that operates a free mobile clinic at seven sites in Maryland: Brunswick, Frederick, Mt. Airy, Reisterstown, Taneytown, Thurmont, and Westminster; and at two sites in Pennsylvania: Gettysburg and Harrisburg.
The mobile clinic operates with the support of more than 250 volunteers and relies entirely on private financial donations from individuals, foundations and corporations to provide these services. All gifts are deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
(Editor’s Note: This Press Release was prepared by Christy Beatty).
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