Galens Tag Days begin, aim for $60K

With expenses on all sides and funds always scarce, the last thing on the mind of the average University student is giving money to doctors. But today and tomorrow, many students will find themselves pulling out their pocket change and handing it over to future doctors on the streets of Ann Arbor.

This weekend marks the annual Galens Tag Days, a campaign run by the University Medical School's Galens Medical Society.

"This event goes back 70 years. In the past, Galens started out as an Honor Society," said Mandy Bauer, the publicity chair for tomorrow's event. "They wondered what they could do to help the society and decided to help the children."

KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily A student volunteer for Galens Tag Day, sponsored by the University Medical School's Galen Medical Society, picks up his collection bucket yesterday.

Pravene Nath, a Medical third-year student and one of the organizers of the campaign, said the Galen service organization's main function is to raise money for children in Washtenaw County.

"One-hundred percent of what we raise will go back to the community ... We do the leg work, channeling the money that people of Washtenaw County give us making sure that it helps good causes," Nath said.

The campaign workers gather most of their money in two ways. The most visible is the bucket drive in which Medical students venture out onto the streets of Ann Arbor to ask their fellow students or community members for donations. Galens members also operate a mail-drive campaign.

"In the mail drive, we usually only solicit money from alumni, or faculty," said Galens Society President Emily Smith. "We keep a database of who had donated before and we go back to them."

The colored tags that Galens members give out mean more than just that day's donation.

"The tags that we give out signify that this person had donated, so we won't harass him or her again," Bauer said. "They also serve as good advertisements for the campaign."

Some Medical students who are involved in the bucket drive said they do not mind braving the cold.

"All of us spend at least 12 hours on the streets during the bucket drive. But we all like doing this," said Chandan Devireddy, a Medical fourth-year student.

The reactions of students and vendors around campus toward the campaign are mixed.

"Most times students will stop and talk to us but sometimes people will just shuffle by quickly with their heads to the floor. But usually most students will have donated by the end of the event," Devireddy said. "Some stores have also been quite receptive in letting us stand in front of their stores while others were less happy about it."

Bauer said the fundraising goal this year is to match last year's total of $60,000.

"We collected about $60,000 last year. So this year we are hoping that we can collect just as much if not more," she said.

There is neither a minimum nor a maximum amount that one can donate. "We accept donations of any size, anything is welcomed," Smith said.

The money is channeled into the community by local area charities.

"Local charities apply for funds. We will evaluate their proposals and then decide who will get the money. Usually 10 charities will get money from us," Bauer said.

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