Med Student Fundraiser to Keep LSU Health New Orleans’ Camp Tiger Free to Families

February 24, 2023

LSU Health New Orleans’ Camp Tiger Benefit Auction – the major fundraiser supporting the free, weeklong summer day camp for children with special needs in metropolitan New Orleans – is Friday, March 10, 2023, from 7 - 11 p.m., at Club XLIV- Champions Square in New Orleans (on Lasalle Street adjacent to the Caesars 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. They have set a fundraising goal of $130,000 to 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 $65 per person, the evening promises to be full of fun and bargains with food donated by local restaurants, including Copeland’s and Rock N’ Sake, 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. Up for bid will be a Villa Bella Cortana Italian Travel Package for a group of 12. It includes 7 nights in a luxury Tuscan villa, a welcome reception featuring wine and appetizers, a cooking class, a local chef dinner at the villa, and daily breakfast service. The property includes a gym, pool, and outdoor sitting area, along with on-site concierge service. Other vacation packages include trips to Belize and Jackson Hole. Golfers can bid on four rounds of golf (18 holes of play and associated greens fees) at Beau Chene Country Club in Mandeville. Auction items also include a $250 gas card, paintings and art prints, jewelry, a family photo session with framed prints, gift certificates to GW Fins, the Court of Two Sisters, Austin’s Steak House and a dinner cruise, a private wine tasting for 20, custom framing, a gift certificate for veterinary care, admission to Oak Alley and Houmas House, gift baskets with everything from all things Dominican to Houston Astros game tickets with a 2-night stay, Alex Bregman jersey, cap and duffel bag, and many more. It’s a great place to shop for birthday, holiday, anniversary or other gifts, or to splurge on yourself while helping to make a unique and meaningful outreach program possible.

While adjusting to their first year of medical school, LSU Health New Orleans medical students 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, set up, staff and tear down the event. At the same time, they are planning and making all of the arrangements for this year’s Camp Tiger, which will be May 22 - 26, 2023.

This year’s Camp Tiger will have two options, both an in-person and a virtual format. Due to the pandemic, the students are planning to accept a lower number of campers than in previous years to the in-person option. With health and safety priorities, LSU Health New Orleans may cancel the in-person option of Camp Tiger at any time if the status of COVID-19 makes it unsuitable to hold in-person events. If this occurs, Camp Tiger will be converted entirely to the virtual format. The registration deadline for Camp Tiger 2023 is April 16, 2023.

Camp Tiger was founded in 1985 by first-year students LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine students. Its mission is to give mentally and physically challenged children an enjoyable summer camp experience. For the campers, this may be their only chance to socialize with other children without being singled out for their disabilities. Camp Tiger lets campers be “just one of the kids” and provides them with the freedom to play, socialize and express themselves as healthy, vibrant children. Since its inception, LSU Health New Orleans Camp Tiger has benefited over 3,000 children and families, more than 1,100 in the past 10 years.

LSU Health New Orleans medical students look forward to the opportunity to work with these exceptional children and serve the community. Besides continuing the LSU Health New Orleans’ tradition of community outreach, Camp Tiger gives first-year and incoming first-year LSU Health New Orleans medical students an opportunity to begin to understand and work with some of the medical conditions they may encounter during their professional careers.

For more information about Camp Tiger and the fundraiser auction, or to purchase tickets or donate, please visit https://www.lsuhsc.edu/orgs/camptiger/.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans (LSU Health New Orleans) educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine with campuses in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu, http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO, or http://www.facebook.com/LSUHSC.