60in60, Shot@Life’s annual college competition, invited campuses across the country to advocate for global immunization programs. This year, students were encouraged to reach out to US Representatives and tell them about the importance of our UN partners’ work to bring measles protection to levels of 80% worldwide. Students from around the country came up with innovative ideas to both fundraise and advocate to their Members of Congress (MoC) on behalf of Shot@Life. University of Iowa, our most successful campus, raised $1,200, held 1 in-district meeting, recruited 10 Champions, and made 22 phone calls to MoC. Following behind was University of California, Los Angeles with $660 raised, 18 Champions recruited, and 20 phone calls to MoC, as well as East Tennessee State University with $458 raised, 7 Champions recruited, and five letters sent.
Below is a summary of the 2015 60in60 campaign as a whole!
- Campus Involvement: 39 campus participants
- Funds Raised: $7,200
- 8 campuses held in-district meetings
- 162 phone calls were made to MoC
- Additionally, campuses wrote 162 letters to MoC in the form of either written letter or e-mail
- 125 new champions were recruited
Events included:
- Pizza fundraisers, family nights at local restaurant, and bake sales
- Phone banks during World Pneumonia Day and World Polio Day
- Basketball tournament, trivia night
- Letter-writing campaign, training sessions and info sessions
- Penny wars and collection jars
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
“This was Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine-Bradenton (LECOM, a satellite to our Erie campus) American Pharmacists Association (APhA) chapter’s first year participating in the Shot@Life 60in60 campaign. We currently have 186 APhA members and 5 members on our Operation Immunization committee. As one of two of the Operation Immunization co-chairs in APhA, I was interested in expanding our involvement in immunization advocacy. With so much attention on the anti-vaccination movement, I think that it is imperative to spread positive and accurate information regarding the benefits of immunizations. I was provided information about Shot@Life from our chapter president and, after the first webinar, was thrilled at the chance to reach out to others and help this cause. Our chapter decided that we wanted to fundraise on campus and in the community. We scheduled in class donation days and fundraising days at a local restaurant that donated a percentage of their proceeds to Shot@Life. We are honored to be a part of this organization and look forward to participating in the future.”
-Kacie Ferracci and Rachel Modrow
Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate: Class of 2017
University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy
“We are firm believers in “being the change that you want to see in the world” at the University of Tennessee. We must be advocators for our profession on all levels and using our local politicians has served us well. Because we have campuses across the state, it was imperative that we reached out to politicians in all areas of Tennessee. During our Shot at Life campaign we were able to call the 9 district representatives for our state. Our states representatives include: Marsha Blackburn, Steve Cohen, Stephen Fincher, Jim Cooper, Diane Black, Charles Sleischmann, Scott Desjarlais, David Roe and John Duncan Jr. We were able to make a total of 45 calls explaining to each one of the importance of providing vaccinations for children who are in desperate need. We received a warm response from each politician thanking us for our concern and encouraging us to continue to support such worthy causes. The politicians are our voice and with them we will be able to let the government know how we would like to spend tax dollars. There are thousands of dollars wasted in healthcare budget and giving a portion of that to these deserving kids would be well deserved. In addition to making phone calls to legislators, we were able to send over 40 letters to representatives by setting up “Shot at Life” tables on campus where students could stop by to donate or send an email to Congress. Through these efforts, we were also able to raise money to support Shot at Life, and we are looking forward to continuing supporting and advocating for the cause.”
-Bernard Britton, Chapter President
Alicia Sanchez, Executive Chairman
Miami University (Delta Epsilon Mu)
“The Phi Chapter of Delta Epsilon Mu at Miami University is a coed, pre-professional, Pre-Health fraternity that seeks to unite students pursuing careers in all areas of healthcare. The goals of the Shot@Life campaign parallel those of Delta Epsilon Mu, Inc. to not only affect change in the world by providing means of healthcare for those who need it (through fundraising and eventually practicing medicine), but also to educate the general population about healthcare issues, both domestic and international.
The effort at Miami was spearheaded by the group’s Shot@Life champions, Danyelle Roan and Alex Waldherr, but the rest of the fraternity did an excellent job stepping up and helping out. This was a team effort, and everyone involved deserves a great deal of credit. Our main fundraising event was a guest bartending night at a restaurant in uptown Oxford. We called it “Shots for Shot@Life” and had two of our members who were 21 help out with the bartending itself. That event was largely put together by our philanthropy chair Lana Amer, she deserves a huge shout out for all of the work that she put into it!
The Phi Chapter of Delta Epsilon Mu is grateful for the opportunity to work with the UN Foundation and Shot@Life and looks forward to continuing a close association in the future.”
-Danyelle Roan and Alex Waldherr
Valparaiso University
“The Zeta Epsilon chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the national honor society of nursing, was eager to support the society’s mission of advancing the health of all people. Participation in the 60in60 Campaign was in alignment with this goal on a global level. The chapter held a “Jar Wars” contest at the College of Nursing & Health Professions of Valparaiso University. The contest rules included that all pennies in the jar added points while silver coins or bills deducted points. This allowed teams to decrease points in others’ jars by donating money. The jar with the most positive (or least negative) points at the end was the winner. The senior nursing class won the contest by having the least negative points and were given a pizza party by the Zeta Epsilon chapter of Sigma Theta Tau for their victory!”
-Chris Kurtz
