University of Michigan

Galens' deep buckets

Amy Cosnowski

Mark Oppenlander fundraises Michigan medical student-style as part of the Galens Tag Days bucket drives in support of U-M and community health services.

Clad in their familiar bright red vest, Galens' medical student volunteer fundraisers brave chilly winter weather to collect pocket change and dollar bills from passers-by through an annual bucket drive on Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti street corners. The small individual donations add up to valuable support for U-M and community health services and the people they serve. In fact, earlier Galens' philanthropy funded construction of the entire eighth floor of the original Mott Hospital.

Last year, the Tag Days drive brought in a record $72,000 that is helping fulfill Galens' five-year, $120,000 commitment to create a place for young patients to play within the new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital, now under construction in the heart of the U-M Medical Campus. Beneficiaries also include the Ronald McDonald House at the U-M Medical Center, a home away from home for the families of hospitalized kids.

"The University is very welcoming and open, and local businesses are generally cooperative, too," said Amy Cosnowski, who served as Galens 2007-'08 president as a fourth-year medical student. "People see the red vests and the buckets and they understand."

To learn more, visit www.umich.edu/~galens.