Winter Newsletter

Timmy Global Health- IU Chapter

Expanding access to healthcare;
empowering students and
volunteers to engage directly in
global development.

1/14/13
Newsletter by Maddy Weil

Topics
[page 2]

Letter from Timmys IU

Chapter President David
Plankenhorn

[page 3]

Donations and Fundraising

Committees

[page 4[

Outreach and Advocacy

Committees

[page 5]

Message from Tommy

Bebekoski, Chair of
Professional Recruitment

The World of Timmy

Happy Winter, everyone! We hope you have been having an
exciting year with Timmy Global Healths IU Chapter and that
you had a smooth end to your Fall semester. This year, we
have been planning all kinds of events to fundraise for our
annual spring break medical brigade to Guatemala and to
spread awareness on what Timmy is all about. We have 16 IU
Timmys who will embark on this exciting journey this
upcoming Spring: Maria Alatorre, Hannah Bates, Amy
Bercovitz, Anna Bennington, Stephen Cavaliere, Divya
Chauhan, Gracie Gramelspacher, Avinash Inabathula, Molly
Newell, David Plankenhorn, Orr Raizman, Jennifer Risting,
Jimmy Rosati, Olivia Sanchez, Elizabeth Schueth, Candy
Sellers, C.J. Skok, and Lauren Wright. We hope you are
looking forward to an amazing and fulfilling trip. Good luck!

Interested in getting involved?

Contact David Plankenhorn, IU Chapter Timmy president, at
Dplanken@imail.iu.edu for more information.

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Message from David Plankenhorn

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Hi Timmy Members and Friends of Timmy,

I hope that all is well and that you are having a wonderful fall. Here at Indiana University, the
Timmy Chapter is firm in its belief that transparency and inclusion are fundamental to any organizations
mission and success. In this light, I would like to take a moment to talk about our mission as an
organization, the highlights of this past year and where we see ourselves going in the immediate and longterm future.
To begin, as one of 25 college chapters around the nation, Timmy Global Health at Indiana
University works year around to provide a sustainable form of health care to rural poor Guatemalans in
the form of medications, monetary funds and international volunteering. This year, we were extremely
successful in raising medications for our medical missions by hosting several donations drives at local
Kroger grocery stores here in Bloomington.
In regards to fundraising, the IU chapter of Timmy Global Health raised over $13,000. These
funds were raised through annual events such as a letter drive, a concert at a local bar and a year ending
benefit dinner. We also had several exciting new initiatives such as the Timmy 5K and Tour de Timmy
a cycling event. In culmination, we were able to see these efforts bear results as we sent 20 IU students, 6
medical professionals and supporting staff down to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to operate primary care
clinics in several rural, impoverished communities. At the end of the week-long brigade, our IU students
had taken vitals, translated and helped administer medications to 321 patients, 237 who were women and
58 who were men. It was an incredible experience for all parties.
As we transition into the 2012-2013 academic year, we are not only trying to replicate these
incredible results, but improve on them. While the Indiana Chapter of Timmy Global Health has
consistently donated a large amount of medications and monetary funds to our international efforts, we
have had a difficult time educating our members that dont go on the medical brigade about the realities of
third world poverty and health care. To this end, the Timmy Board has begun a process of restructuring so
that involvement in Timmy is a more well-rounded experience. Thus far, we have had Matt MacGregor,
The International Executive Director of Timmy, Dr. Robert Einterz, The founder of AMPATH (a multimillion dollar non-profit that serves millions of Kenyans that deal with HIV/AIDs), and the Director of
Outreach of IU Health, speak with our members. We believe that by facilitating this conversation about
the existence of global need and health disparities, we can dissolve borders and connect our members with
their global community in a real and lasting way.
In addition to this restructuring, we are also in the process of planning several fundraising and
advocacy events. Currently we are in the process of planning a concert, a partnership with IU Mens
Soccer and initiating our fall letter drive. It is also one of our goals this year to improve upon our domestic
outreach. In order to meet this goal, we are working with several local organizations: Habitat for
Humanity, Interfaith Homeless Shelter, IU Health Bloomington, Volunteers in Medicine and Mother
Hubbards Cupboard. While it is our primary mission to improve the lives of those in impoverished
communities internationally, we understand that health disparities exist in our very own back yard.
In closing, I would like to thank everyone that has made our work possible: those that have
supported us through donations, those of you who have supported us through attending our events and
those who have morally supported one of our college members. We could not do what we do without
you. Because of your efforts, we are able to consistently volunteer our time and make a real change in real
peoples lives. Your generosity is expanding the minds of our members, allowing us to support our
international partners substantially and truly changing the world. Thank you and take care.
All the Best,
David A. Plankenhorn
Indiana University President

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Donations and
Fundraising
Committees
The purpose of the donations committee is to
collect medicinal donations at
Donations
local grocery stores for the
chapter's annual medical
This year, the donations committee has been doing
brigade to Guatemala. The
a fabulous job collecting medicinal donations for IU
fundraising committee plans
Timmys Guatemala medical brigade. The main
events to raise money for the
focus for the donations committee will be to gather
brigade.
supplies such as vitamins, sunscreen, and body
lotion through storefront donation drives at Kroger.
If you are interested in
So far we have had five successful drives and we are
joining the donations subover half way to the quota we are expected to meet.
committee, you can contact
Fundraising
The fundraising committee hosted the Timmy
Rake-A-Thon on October 28th, where Timmy
volunteers raked lawns in Bloomington to
fundraise for the brigade. Also, we will be
hosting a benefit concert within the next
couple of months: date and time TBA.
Canning also started off really well at the
Homecoming tailgate, and we will continue to do
this at Kirkwood bars on the weekends. In addition,
we are going to start using donation jars that will be
placed in local shops to collect money and spread
awareness. A new idea has also been suggested
called the Donate-A-Dollar campaign; we will set
up a booth somewhere on campus or in a local
business, and if you donate $1, your name will be
placed on a wall of recognition. Lastly, we have
been encouraging all members of Timmy Global
Health to write letters to family and friends asking
for donations.

Marcin Kuzma at
markuzma@imail.iu.edu for
more information.

Gracie Gramelspacher and

Amy Bercovitz will be in
charge of the donation jars.
Contact them at
gramelsm@indiana.edu or
acbercov@imail.iu.edu

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Continued
Outreach
The outreach committees
responsibility is to connect with
other organizations both on and
off the IU campus so that we
might work together to better
accomplish our shared goal.

For more information

on the Outreach
Committee, contact
Elliott Trosky at
ejtrosky@umail.iu.edu

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Outreach
and
Advocacy

Currently, we have submitted grants to the Apex

Foundation, which gives general grants to humanitarian
organizations, and to The Buskirk-Chumley Theatre for use
of their theatre for specific Timmy events. We are also
starting the I AM TIMMY campaign, which is a poster
campaign to attract non-science majors to Timmy, as well as
a Kilroy's sponsor night, which will be similar to a "dine-anddonate" at Kilroy's. Lastly, we have started the bi-semester
newsletter to maintain a medium of communication and
information between current and former IU Timmy
members.
Advocacy

Interested in joining
the Advocacy
committee? Contact
Divya Chauhan at
dchauhan@indiana.edu

Advocacy and Education serves as the voice of Timmy

Global Health and the people we serve on campus. We have
hosted two events thus far: Baila con Timmy and the Timmy
Global Health Symposium. Baila Con Timmy was hosted on
September 12th in the Georgian room at the IMU, where for
an hour and a half, salsa instructors taught Indiana
University students, staff, and everyone else who attended
how to Salsa dance for free, while learning about service
opportunities through Timmy Global Health. The Timmy
Global Health Symposium regarding the Logistics of
Healthcare was held on October 4th in the Indiana Memorial
Union. The Global Health Fair took place from 5:30-6:30,
where there were booths from different organizations of IUB
that are involved with global health, volunteer work, or
sustainable changes, and the fair was followed by the
discussion panel. Participants of the panel discussion
included Matt McGregor, Director of Timmy Global Health,
Jessica Reichard, a Timmy Global Health Medical Brigade
Coordinator in Guatemala, and Mr. Ronald Pettigrew, who
has worked in Kenya with AMPATH for several years.
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Message from
Tommy Bebekoski,
Chair of
Professional
Recruitment

Our brigades to Guatemala cannot be successful nor run efficiently

without the fervor and kindness of our medical professionals that come
with us. IU Timmys Professional Recruitment will recruit at least 8
medical professionals to come on the trip to help run our clinics, to serve
as mentors to the students on the trip, and to simply add a vibe of
compassion and protection for the trip-goers. A special bond indubitably
exists by the end of the trip between the students and the medical
professionals. We will recruit doctors, pharmacists, nurses, nurse
practitioners, and hopefully a dentist or physical therapist! We strive to
take a diverse group of medical professionals with us. For instance, some
of our medical professionals this year are Karen Bills, a pharmacist from
Florida; Max Newell, an ear/nose/throat physician from Indianapolis;
Nathan Mann, a family practice physician from Michigan. As one can see,
these medical professionals come from all over the country! IU Timmys
Professional Recruitment works throughout the year to familiarize the
trip-goers with the medical professionals in order to ensure a smooth,
fulfilling experience for everyone on the brigade to Guatemala.