NEWS
UHS promotes group efforts
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by John Potratz
Thursday, January 27, 2005
University of Wisconsin Health Services is encouraging student groups to collaborate with one another on charity and outreach programs by offering mini grants to organizations.
Collaboration grants, which range from $50 to $300, will be given to organizations UHS officials determine are benefiting the overall health and quality of the Madison and other communities.
By offering mini grants to two or more student groups, UHS leaders say they hope to help build connections between different organizations and create a stronger community.
“[UHS looks] for groups who don’t typically work together,” said UHS Collaboration Grant Coordinator Genella Taylor. “We like them to build lasting relationships as well as benefit the overall health of the community.”
UHS believes students who study in a healthy community atmosphere experience a better quality of learning, according to the UHS website. By bringing students together, UHS hopes to improve the overall learning atmosphere on campus.
Mini grants have been awarded to nearly every type of student group for events ranging from bowling for AIDS to an adolescent health education workshop for local youths.
The Mentoring Achievement Program and another organization received a grant spring semester last year for a workshop pairing medical students with local middle school students to build awareness about domestic and dating violence.
“Our mini grant was a significant contribution,” former MAP co-coordinator Jacqueline Geissler said. “There is not a lot of funding that goes around for organizations that do important things — any money we can get is a huge help.”
The International Business Student Association and the Society for Human Resource Management received a $300 UHS grant in spring 2004 for a bowling tournament at Union South to benefit an AIDS orphanage in Zimbabwe. The UHS-provided grant paid to rent out all lanes at Union South for an entire evening.
“[IBSA] received the full amount asked for — all in all we raised $700 to $800 in one afternoon and had around 20 teams show up,” former IBSA International Community Service Coordinator Inge Lindeque said.
While mini grants have been used for a wide variety of expenses, they cannot pay for some costs, such as food or alcohol.
Geissler said receiving the grant was an easy process.
Any registered student organization is eligible to receive a UHS mini grant as long as they are working to benefit or reach out to the community. Student organizations have to follow two rules — the proposed event has to help the community and has to be open to all students.
“Of the over 700 registered student organizations at the university, any and all are eligible as long as they are working with another student organization,” Geissler said.
Geissler also said UHS awarded ten grants last semester and gave every group the amount they asked for. Geissler said she encourages organizations to get together and apply for mini grants, no matter how significant the event.
“We want to give mini grants out. Ideally we would like to award thirty grants. We’ve had only four so far this semester.”
The application deadline to receive a mini grant for spring semester 2005 is Friday, Feb. 4. Organizations interested in applying may contact Genella Taylor at gmtaylor@wisc.edu.
