Generosity

We're closing in on the actual walk, and we need more fundraising help. Recently, I bucketed, and wanted to talk a little bit about that experience. First off, if you've never bucketed, you should. You stand with your bucket in hand, asking politely for complete strangers to put whatever they can spare into that purple bucket. It builds character and builds your confidence. In the world of pharmacy, you need both.




You see so much about human character and how important our efforts to find cures and raise money for patient support really are. Many people will not look at you in the eyes, and others will completely ignore you. Don't despair, and don't judge. The economy isn't great and people in Ann Arbor are constantly asked for money on the street by other Relay for Lifers, the homeless, and countless other organizations.

The next group of people are the ones that acknowledge you and either say good luck or explain that they don't carry cash. You thank them anyways, and always have a smile, because they might remember you and give in the future to somebody.

Last, there are those who actually donate. Nobody does this wanting anything other than a thank you, and some are even embarrassed when you express your gratitude. Many just walk by and put a dollar or some change into your purple bucket. Others put in a few dollars since they just got out of a store or feel extra gracious that day. Then there are others who "make you work for it". They ask who you are and what you are doing, to ensure their money is going towards a noble cause. When I say, "We're raising money for cancer research.", I have never had anybody close their wallet. The last group is the people who had, or have, or lost somebody to cancer. This group is so gracious for what we are doing. These people put a face to the efforts we are putting forth, and encourage us, as our efforts also give them hope.

So, if you've never bucketed, do so. Run a little psychology experiment of your own design. Go out and talk to strangers for a cause. Get to see and actually meet some of the people that we are doing this for.

Matthew Lewis
PharmD Candidate Class of 2012

14 Days To Go: Makin' Some Moves!

With March beginning to wrap up and April just around the corner, Relay For Life is fast approaching! In the last couple weeks, along with the individual efforts of our team members, we have raised a significant amount of money through various organized fundraisers.

The Networking Auction: Was a huge success! With 14 College of Pharmacy staff participating in this inaugural event, we were able to raise $3,085! What an outrageous amount of money!

Mongolian BBQ Fundraiser: The guest grillers this year included Ashley Hunt, Dr. Carver, Dr. S. Kraft, Bernard Marini, Jr., Rachel Lebovic, and Maho Hibino.

P3's Brian Dekarske, Brian Meredith, and Bernie Marini rush to buy

their tickets after escaping the torrential downpour outside.

P1s, P2s, P3s, P4s, friends, professors, and deans gathered between 6-9pm on the dreary Tuesday evening of March 15th to enjoy Mongolian BBQ's delicious create-your-own stir fry. The entire event raised a total of $452. Way to go everyone! A great big thank you to Rachel Lebovic and Ashley Hunt for planning the annual fundraiser!

P1's Ashley Hunt and Rachel Lebovic selling tickets throughout the night.

What's going on in the next 2 weeks?

Right Now: Penny Wars! Jars for the P1, P2, and P3 classes will be in the lounge, floating around classrooms, or in Pat's office (across from the Dean's office) where you can put your spare change or bills into. Coins count for positive points (ex: a quarter = +25 points) and bills count for negative points (ex: $1 bill = -100 points). Get your money in, this ends on Friday April 1. Last year the class of 2011 won, who will be the new winner?

Blue Leprechaun Bar Night: Thursday April 7. Stop by for some early evening drinks or a late night capper!

T-Shirt Sale: Our goal this year is to sell 100 shirts or more, so order yours for $10 now! This bright yellow with bright blue lettering shirt will be an essential fashion item for April 9th. Let everyone know you are apart of the Pill Pusher's team! See Dom Rutherford or order in the lounge from 12-2 (generally) until Wednesday April 30th.

Bucketing: It's not too late to sign up! This is an ongoing event until April 7 and there are still many spots open. It's an effortless and easy way to raise some money, just donate an hour of your time with a buddy to stand on a corner on Main Street.

P3's Amanda Li and Ridz Vohra bucketing in the cold, bitter rain.

Currently, we have raised 49% of our $15,000 goal with $7,385.13! This is an outstanding effort for the College of Pharmacy. There are still 2 weeks leading up to the big day and this is more than enough time to raise even more.

Kristen

Unity

We have all heard the saying "United, we stand. Divided, we fall." This simple concept is why we have the Pill Pushers team, and why each Relay for Life team is actually working towards the same goal. Every team member is united in the fight against cancer. The Pill Pushers just came out with a shirt to show off our team spirit and identify us as College of Pharmacy students, but there are many different teams united against cancer who don't wear uniforms. Those teams are the families of patients and survivors.

In my previous post, I said cancer can seriously harm a family. That certainly is true in terms of the cost of money and quality of life, even if the person goes into remission. However, many times a family will rally around the cancer patient; estranged family members put aside differences, families tighten their belts to ensure treatment is an option, the cancer, and the possible loss of a life supersedes all petty things (most of the time). Then, if the time comes where nothing more can be done, like it did for my grandmother, who died a few years ago on Good Friday from metastasized breast cancer, the family is united in grief to try to fill that void the cancer carved out.

Relay for Life does not just help fund all varieties of cancer research, it helps families cope with the cost of care. This organization helps survivors, like my Uncle who is in remission from Hodgkin's lymphoma, live a little better life as they grow stronger day by day. Our team effort put forth by the Pill Pushers helps those family "teams" to have access to care support and grief groups. This is why I Relay.

Matthew Lewis

PharmD Candidate Class of 2012

related links:

Peer Support Network- one of many help groups for caregivers, patients, and survivors. You can also find groups using the American Cancer Society webpages, Livestrong, and from Google searches (http://peersupportnetwork.org/)

Here's a page highlighting breast cancer support groups in particular all around Michigan. (http://www.karmanos.org/detroitraceforthecure/support.asp)

A news story about one boy and his "team". Link not posted to avoid spoilers.

Networking Auction - Live Blogging!

For everyone that couldn't make the first annual Networking Auction for Relay for Life, not to worry! I will be live blogging throughout the event so you will know exactly what happened. on the minute. Charles Berklich and Tina Gallagher are our auctioneers for the evening.

We had a wonderful turnout of professors who were interested in auctioning networking opportunities with them whether it be a dinner, a BBQ, or a fishing trip! All proceeds from the event go towards Relay for Life.

5:21pm - This just in, even before the Auction has started, Tiffany Pfundt and Chelsea Grombir have locked in Dr. Mueller. I'm sure our outstanding P4s will have a lovely fishing adventure with our renal specialist.

6:00pm - Time to get started! Up first, Dean Perry, coming down to DMX "Ruff Ryders". She sure has some great moves!

6:01pm - Dean Perry wants to get enough funds tonight to leave her office by Tuesday morning. She does love her jokes. On a serious not, she's been here for 40 years and will be retiring after this year. She will be taking 4 students to dinner of their choice, hopefully McDonalds! Another joke, she just keeps them coming.

6:03pm - Bidding is starting at a million dollars! Eric Zhao is bringing out the first bid for $50. Another $50 from Edwin and Alison Van Kampen comes in with $30.

6:05pm - Next up, Dr. Mason with a home cooked dinner for 8 students at her house. Her husband is an excellent cook and they would be willing to take requests for the meal. They have a chocolate fountain and a chocolate lab (along with a cat, for all those cat lovers). Bidding has started! The first bid has gone to Kristen Gardner for $50. And all 8 spots have gone!

6:09pm - Here comes Dr. Carver. Home cooked lunch for 2 at Peggy Sue's American Diner (her home), but nothing raw! Matt Lewis gets the first spot for $50 and Jacqueline Isip snags the last spot for $40.

6:22pm - Dr. Mueller is up now with only 1 spot left, so we're going to start the bidding at $30 and go up from there. Sold for $60!

6:23pm - Dr. Beleh went fast, with 6 people getting him for $40 each!

6:26pm - Dean Ascione coming down the aisle to the Michigan fight song. Hail! He will match all bids as well! 4 bids went for $85, wow!

6:29pm - Time for dinner and bowling for 5 with Dr. Frame. He feels a little intimidated going after the Dean, so vote for him! Dinner is up to you. 6 people are hanging on strong, but there's only room for 5! After some vicious fighting, Dr. Frame is sold to 5 lucky students for $65 each.

6:32pm - Coming down to one of my favorites, "Shots" by LMFAO, Dr. Diez is offering a BBQ or pizza along with a Wii party for 4! Sold for $35 each! Best of luck to those facing her at Mario Kart, we were warned that she cannot be beat.

6:34pm - Our last Dean being auctioned, Dean Welage, will take 5-6 people out for dinner. She used to be an event planner and caterer and she was very good at hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Her husband also happens to be a wonder on the grill, so the dinner could be a BBQ or if you prefer, she can take the students out as well. $25 each from 5 people!

6:37pm - Pete Niedbala is our last live auction, and he is offering a home cooked meal with the night starting off at his party barn! 8 people bought this prize for $65 each. This will be a great night for sure. Please bring back plenty of stories.

6:40pm - And that wraps up the first annual Networking Auction. It was a great success and a ton of fun. There were 4 silent bids in the back of the room as well for Dr. Clark, Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Kraft and Dr. Kraft, and Dr. Remington. They couldn't be here tonight but were still successful in raising money for Relay for Life.

I'm happy to say that I went into the event as a spectator, with no plans to pull out my checkbook, and left at the end of the night with a networking opportunity with 5 others at Dr. Clark's home for a cookout! I cannot wait.

Final Update: We made over $3,000 to donate towards the Pill Pusher Relay for Life team!! Way to go everyone, enjoy your networking experiences!

Special thank you to Tony Lin, Krystal Sheerer, and Macey Edson for putting this event together. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, even though I think some of the professors were a little out of their element up in the front of the room at the mercy of bidding students. I can't wait to do it again next year!

Why We're Here and A Little Bit About Us.

Welcome to the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy Relay for Life blog.

To make it easier on all of us, I’ll just use our Relay for Life team nickname, The Pill Pushers, when referring to our team. We are University of Michigan pharmacy students and our Relay for Life team is committed to raising money to advance cancer research. So … What do pharmacists know about cancer? We don’t diagnose it. We don’t run tests for it. We can’t possibly understand how complicated it is, right?

Wrong.

Pharmacists contribute greatly to cancer research and all forms of cancer care. Some of us even specialize in cancer treatment and management. Most large and many medium-sized hospitals have a hematology/oncology pharmacist specialist (or two) on staff to help the oncologist select the best cancer-fighting medications. We remain current with all the new treatments; and special order, prepare, and dispense these medications. But that’s not all. We also help patients manage any side effects of chemotherapy medications.

As the public’s most accessible health care professional, community pharmacists are first line care providers. If a patient fills a prescription at the same pharmacy every month (or more often), chances are very good that the patient and the pharmacist(s) know each other well. So if a pharmacist notices something about the patient — a sudden unexplained loss of weight, a chronic cough, a sore that won’t heal, or many other symptoms — the pharmacist is ideally placed to refer his patient to an oncologist. That’s important, because early detection is key to treatment.

Cancer is a scary disease. It kills individuals, often runs in families, and often inflicts deep emotional and physical trauma on everybody involved with a patient. Even the medications used to treat cancer have toxic side effects due to the nature of them.

But we can beat this complex set of diseases by working together — and that’s what the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is all about.

There are an estimated 11.7 million people in the U.S. with cancer. If our fundraising efforts can help medical science find a cure or prevention for cancer, or even contribute to the development of better medications, we will have helped some of those 11.7 million people live longer, better lives.

So please join us in the fight against cancer. Donate to our Michigan Pharmacy team. You’ve already taken an important step in that direction by reading this blog. Take the next step: Support the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy Pill Pushers. Whatever you can give. If you can't give money, that's okay, just donate some of your time to learn about the disease for now and continue coming back for more insight and to see how we are doing. Help keep our momentum going.

Every gift counts. Help us put the Big Chill on the Big C.

Matthew Lewis

PharmD Candidate Class of 2012

Related links:

• Relay for Life Homepage (http://college.relayforlife.org/)

• American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/index)

• Livestrong: Established by cancer survivor and seven-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong (http://www.livestrong.org/)

Relay for Life: 33 Days To Go!

Welcome to the 2011 COP Relay for Life blog! Myself, along with my fellow P3, Matt Lewis, will be spending the next month providing updates on fundraising events and the Pill Pushers progress to raise our goal of $15,000. Here's where we stand right now:

• Relay for Life: April 9 - 10
• Goal: $15,000 (Currently raised $2,815 - 19%)
• P4 Relayers: 1
• P3 Relayers: 17
• P2 Relayers: 6
• P1 Relayers: 8

Word around the COP is that the Class of 2012 like to refer to themselves as the "Best Class Eva" and I can't deny this to be false based on the overall participation from all the classes. Congratulations to our lone P4 Pill Pusher, Maho Hibino, who has currently raised the most money with $350! Wow! Keep up the amazing work.

Throughout these next 33 days, many events will be taking place but let's take a look at what will be going on in the next week:

• Bucketing: Taking place NOW until April 7. There are still lots of spots available!
• Networking Auction: Monday, March 14 at 5:30pm. Bid on 14 different COP faculty auctioning off different events with them such as dinner, a home cooked meal, and even a fishing trip!
• Mongolian BBQ Fundraiser: Tuesday, March 15 from 6-9pm. $20 (one bowl) or $25 (unlimited) along with one nonalcoholic drink, unlimited soup/salad, tax, and tip. See your class representative.

A special thank you to your 2011 Relay for Life leaders:

• PDC: Dominick Rutherford, Rachel Lebovic, Liz Kelly
• APhA: Matt Lewis, Jackie O'Connor
• HSP: Jessica Fong, Erin Gulbranson
• ISPOR: Tony Lin, Krystal Sheerer, Macey Edson
• PSGC: Jordan Smith, Bernie Marini
• SNPhA: Tanvi Khanpara, Jessica Chen

-Kristen