BY CORIE LYNN
Though this is their first year on campus, FHSU’s American Healthy Heart Association is already striving to make a difference among students.
Right now, the student members of the AHHA are hoping to meet their goal of promoting health for their peers by establishing award-based funding to their peers with diabetes.
“Students with type-1 [diabetes] will receive it,” AHHA Founder and President Anthony Ventura said. “They will have to show some proof that they have type-1 and they will be awarded funding to help out with insulin cost.”
To establish the funding project, the AHHA has worked closely with the FHSU Foundation and has begun crowdfunding.
According to Ventura, the organization has just begun fundraising. With the cost of insulin ranging from $400 to $1,000 a month, their goal is to raise $15,000 for the fund.
In the interim, there is more work for the AHHA to do.
“We are setting up fundraising events and taking action in helping our peers. We hope for this project to last a long time and help our peers with type-1 diabetes on a yearly basis,” Ventura said.
Ricardo Zamora, the FHSU Foundation’s assistant director of annual giving, explained this desire to assist students was what led the organization to help with the fund. He views crowdfunding as a great way to reach a broader audience and engage students in projects such as this.
“[W]e really enjoy being involved on campus, especially with the students and being there to help in whichever way we can,” Zamora said. “This project in particular has an amazing mission and can really make an impact on the lives of our students.”
He went on to state that students already face plenty of stress. Between classes, jobs and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is plenty for them to worry about.
“Worrying about something like not being able to pay for insulin, shouldn’t be something else on their plate,” Zamora said. “This project can relieve some of that stress for students to focus on being successful in their college careers.”
In fact, the AHHA chose to focus on insulin assistance because they knew the financial stress of medicine can hinder a student’s ability to succeed.
Ventura explained the organization wanted to address this stress straight away, describing diabetes as a Netflix subscription you can never cancel.
“There are stories where a student rationing food for themselves because they couldn’t afford insulin,” Ventura said. “Some students just work just to pay for a medication they need to live.”
Though the project is through the AHHA, Ventura hopes that inspires other students, both at FHSU and other universities, to stand up for the health and needs of their peers. The project is a group effort to mitigate the cost of insulin.
“I am excited that American Healthy Heart Association was able to establish the project,” Ventura said, “and we would like to thank the Foundation for helping us to provide transparent transactions to assure people that the students with type-1 will receive the funds.”