Authored by:
Jason Claes
Assistant Director - SRS Accounting
University of Cincinnati
Email: claesjj@ucmail.uc.edu
We want to hear about a day in your work-life! To contribute to the monthly series, please submit your story here.
Imagine your childhood summers…warm sunny days; running, jumping, swimming, playing tag and climbing trees. Now imagine a summer laying on a bed in a stale, cold, white environment; spending four hours during the day, three times a week, tethered to a dialysis unit to get your blood cleaned. Diets are hard to watch when you see your friends enjoying summer treats like ice cream, watermelon, candy and cookies. Imagine how hard it is to watch other kids having fun when you can’t and feeling like you’re the only kid in the entire world that has a kidney problem.
Fortunately, there is a special place in Tennessee every second week in June that offers children with kidney disease and other serious health conditions the opportunity to go to summer camp and have fun! For one week each summer, these children can go to camp and just be kids - swimming, canoeing, bonfires with s’mores, running, jumping and making new friends. The kids have the opportunity to meet others from 14 states that share the same struggles and joys of their health conditions while taking in fun summer activities. Bringing dialysis units to the camp and providing special meals to meet dietary needs are what makes this possible.
Dr. Donna Claes and Charles Coe II of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital had approached me to help with fundraising for this great effort as well as manage the funds raised. I had teamed up with a charitable organization, the Knights of Columbus, for not only man power but also for creative thinking in fundraising. With our combined efforts we were able to step up to the plate to deliver a home run. Literally. Two baseball greats - Ron Oester and Brent Suter - were the featured speakers at the event we sponsored on December 15, 2017. Both presented their stories of baseball, life and what success looks like to over 60 people. A Cornhole tournament was held, along with silent and live auctions.
The event brought in more than $8,000 in cash as well a $5,000 in-kind contribution from Greyhound Bus, Inc. to provide round-trip transportation to Tennessee for up to 20 kids, Dr. Claes, and other medical and administrative staff who will accompany them.
The skills I’ve developed as a research administrator I’ve implored in my personal life for developing and managing this funded project. As a research administrator I am constantly looking for the best opportunities for funding, which in this case assisting Dr. Claes and Mr. Coe in researching optimal funding opportunities for their AIM (sending kids to dialysis camp) by means of a fund raiser. I developed a budget within reason in order to meet those AIMs and assisted in developing a funding plan. In our profession sometimes we must go out of our comfort zone to ask for clarification of expectations to our sponsors in order to maintain collaborative relationships through means of support letters asking for sponsorship and donations. As a steward of funds from various stakeholders, applying accounting principles to manage and provide progress reports is critical to communicating how funds are being spent as well as outcomes in hopes for future financial support.
I can’t wait for summer!
#insights#Membership#ResearchAdministration