BCM medical students organize bowling event, benefit charity

First-year medical student Shaan Sheth tells us about the experience of helping to plan and participate in this year’s BCM medical student fundraising event, in which students and faculty bowled for a good cause.

Saturday, June 1, almost 200 members of the BCM family came together to support and raise money for the Baylor Teen Health Clinic and the Houston Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation at the annual Charity Ball.

A BCM tradition for 18 years, the Charity Ball has been a way for medical students to raise money for charities that provide free to low-cost health services to individuals in need.

The Bowling Ball

In a departure from past Charity Balls, this year’s event, The Bowling Ball, was a more casual affair held at Palace Bowling Lanes. We wanted to organize an event that was not only fun and exciting, but also facilitated more interaction between participants and was accessible to a greater portion of the BCM community. We were happy to see many in attendance with their children!

Attendees spent the evening bowling with friends and family, enjoying catered food and drink, and participating in raffles for several enticing prize packages assembled from donations by faculty and local businesses.

Students, as well as faculty and residents representing BCM departments, organized teams and bowled for the high score in an intense competition that came down to the wire, with not just a grand prize, but also team pride on the line.

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback about this year’s new format for the Charity Ball and are hopeful that it catches on as a new BCM tradition!

Bowling for a cause

Selecting the charities to raise funds for each year is probably the most challenging part of organizing the Charity Ball because this institution is affiliated with or operate a number of wonderful and important charitable programs. Additionally, for many of the charities this event has supported over the years, the Charity Ball represents a vital source of funding.

With this in mind, this year’s Charity Ball coordinating committee, consisting of myself, Daniel Chilcote, Jessica Messier, Kavina Juneja, and Kelsey Horter (all first-year medical students) worked closely with Dr. Mary Brandt and the Office of Development to select our charities.

The Baylor Teen Health Clinics encompass eight clinics across Texas, providing a range of medical services to young men and women at little or no cost. Every clinician at these volunteer-run, full-service clinics is on the BCM faculty.

The Houston Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation brings healing to the underserved in Honduras. Past Charity Ball funding helped fund the completion of a clinic in Santa Ana. Additionally, BCM students, residents and faculty travel to Santa Ana twice a year to conduct large clinics and provide a host of services.

If you would like to support these wonderful charities, the Charity Ball is still collecting donations! Click here to find out how to donate.

See you at next year’s Charity Ball!

-By Shaan Sheth, Baylor College of Medicine medical student