LSU Health New Orleans Med Students Raise Funds for Camp Tiger

LSU Health New Orleans Camp Tiger Benefit Auction – the major fund-raiser supporting the free, week-long summer day camp for children with special needs in the metropolitan New Orleans area – will be on Friday, March 31, 2017, from 7:00 - 11:00 p.m., at Club XLIV in the heart of Champions Square (on Lasalle Street adjacent to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome). Camp Tiger is planned, organized, staffed, and funded by the efforts of first-year students at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine. The students’ fund-raising efforts underwrite the cost of the Camp, so it remains free to campers and their families. All proceeds go directly to running LSU Health New Orleans Camp Tiger.

For a donation of $50 per general admission ticket purchased in advance, the evening promises to be full of fun and bargains with food donated by restaurants including Juan’s Flying Burrito, Mona’s, Reginelli’s, Elizabeth’s, Theo’s, Bourbon Heat, Young’s Restaurant, High Hat and Baker Maid, among others. Dance to the music of the Rockenbraughs, whose members include Dr. Dan Nuss, Professor and Chairman of ENT-Head and Neck Surgery at LSU Health New Orleans. The 610 Stompers will also make a special appearance. Spectacular silent and live auctions will feature a host of fun and useful items. Up for bid will be fabulous trips including a Hawaiian vacation, seven nights at Villa Magnolia in Tuscany, Italy and a stay at a condo in Telluride, Colorado, as well as original works by local artists, restaurant gift certificates, theater tickets, a one-hour plane ride in a 1941 Stearman aircraft and all manner of decorative and entertaining items. It’s a great place to shop for birthday, holiday, anniversary or other gifts while helping to make a unique and meaningful outreach program possible.

While adjusting to their first year of medical school, which is much more rigorous than college, LSUHSC medical students somehow find the time to plan the Camp Tiger Benefit Auction, solicit donations including the evening’s food offerings and hundreds of auction items, book the location, hire the entertainment,and set up, staff, and tear down the event. They are also busy planning and making all of the arrangements for this year’s Camp Tiger, which will be May 22-26, 2017.

LSU Health New Orleans medical students volunteer their time to act as counselors and staff for the Camp. The ratio of counselors to campers is 2:1. More than 100 campers are expected to participate this year. The application deadline for LSU Health New Orleans Camp Tiger 2017 is April 7, 2017.

Camp Tiger was founded in 1985 by first-year students from the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine. Its mission is to give disadvantaged and challenged children an enjoyable summer camp experience. For the campers, this may be their only chance during the summer to socialize with other children without being singled out for their disabilities. This week-long day camp lets campers be “just one of the kids” and provides them with the freedom to play, socialize, and express themselves as healthy, vibrant children. Camp Tiger is organized and staffed each year by volunteers from the first-year class. Students look forward to the opportunity to work with these exceptional children and serve the community. Since its inception, Camp Tiger has benefitted nearly 2,000 children from the Greater New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas.

Besides beginning the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans tradition of community outreach, Camp Tiger gives these first-year and incoming first-year LSU Health New Orleans medical students an opportunity to begin dealing with some of the medical conditions they may encounter during their professional careers.

For more information about Camp Tiger, or to purchase tickets, click here.