The Student Nurses Association (SNA) held its Charity Ball on Friday, Feb. 23, in the Northern Center Ballrooms. This event was held to help raise money for Bay Cliff Health Camp, a nonprofit camp for people with disabilities.
“It was a great way for us to raise money for a local charity,” SNA President Emilee Kelly said.
This year’s Charity Ball was the first time SNA has done this event since 2019, so most students had never been able to experience it.
“I think it was just cool to finally get it started again and hopefully we can just grow from here,” Kelly said.
There were over 60 people in attendance, including students and faculty members, who all enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, a DJ and raffle baskets at the Charity Ball.
“Another fun part was the raffle baskets, a lot of good things were donated by community members,” Kelly said.
The president said the club originally set its sights on raising about $500 for Bay Cliff Health Camp.
“I think we raised over $800, but we have not figured out all of the costs yet,” Kelly said.
She added this money will make a big impact on those who are hoping to attend Bay Cliff Health Camp.
“It will hopefully allow kids to get to go to this camp that otherwise would not have been able to because they financially could not afford it,” Kelly said.
In addition to achieving their fundraising goal, Kelly added SNA enjoyed the other aspects of the Charity Ball.
“Nursing school is stressful and it was good to have a break and dance with our professors and other nursing students in different cohorts,” Kelly said. “I think it was just a good break to have some fun.”
Kelly said the event also received positive feedback from students and faculty.
“It sounds like most people had a good time. The faculty was happy we got it going again and it sounds like we did a pretty good job compared to what it used to be,” Kelly said.
Despite being successful, SNA struggled to get ticket sales until just days before the event.
“The last couple of days right before the event we were worried because we had not sold very much,” Kelly said. “Then we decided to extend the ticket sales and we ended up selling like 25 more tickets.”
Kelly said she was pleased with the turnout of this event and looks forward to continuing this event next year.
