Galens Tag Days:
A Tradition of Student Generosity and Concern for the Community
That Goes Back More Than 70 Years
by Megan Schimpf
Elise Georgi |
The idea for what has become the Galens’ Tag Days was
first suggested by Galens member Wall W. Thom at the group’s
meeting on November 3, 1927. Funds from the first drive were
used for a December party for the children in University Hospital,
and a portion was saved to found the Galens Workshop the next
spring.
The Workshop, which still exists, offers pediatric patients
the opportunity to be more “kid” than patient. Held
on the eighth floor of Mott Hospital since the mid-1960s, the
Workshop offers events ranging from art projects to Halloween
costumes, from parades to parties, from face painting to visits
by Michigan collegiate athletes.
Its activities always bring smiles and laughter from Mott patients,
which is why hundreds of medical students are willing to give
up a weekend every year to collect money to support the Workshop
and other activities.
The appearance of Galens members in their red ponchos, standing
on Ann Arbor street corners with their buckets on the first
weekend in December, is a familiar sight to local residents.
“It’s Galens time again,” people say, either
preparing to drop coins or paper bills into the buckets or flashing
a tag to show they already did. The trademark red and green
tags can be seen on almost every winter coat in town that weekend,
proud symbols of wanting to help the children of Washtenaw County.
Tag Days is truly one of the highlights of the Galens year.
“There is nothing like the sight of 150 medical students
in their red ponchos creating a dynamic presence throughout
the city,” says Tag Days “czar” Amanda Bauer,
a fourth-year student. “When I see thousands of Ann Arborites
wearing their colorful tags, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment
knowing the community is with us in our mission.”
Shannon Sullivan |
Despite the long hours and the often frigid weather, most members
come away from the weekend with warm stories to tell —
that of the man who gave a hundred-dollar bill, that of the
toddler with a few coins, that of the check for $500, that of
the young woman who benefited from Tag Days money as a child,
that of the woman who gives money yearly in honor of her father,
that of the van with warm food and drinks, that of the personal
appreciation expressed for the amount of money collected to
help kids.
Financial allocation has also changed since the beginning of
Tag Days, with fund distributions also being made to outside
groups beginning in the mid-1960s. In 1968, Galens pledged $80,000
to Mott Hospital over 10-12 years for the creation of the Galens
Intensive Care Unit for Children. In 1982, however, it was decided
that all distributions should be for one year only, and a number
of guidelines for giving out Tag Days money were set up —
to benefit children younger than 18 in Washtenaw County and
for specific projects to organizations that have exhausted all
other sources.
Ron Teed |
“Galens teaches students important skills in community
service and fund-raising, about making hard decisions using
scarce resources,” says Rachel Glick, M.D., associate dean
for student programs and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry,
who was a Galens member as a student. “It creates a wonderful
teaching and learning opportunity for students who choose to
join.”
While the first Galens Tag Days raised about $1,000, the 1999
Tag Days collected more than $72,000, augmented by a mail solicitation
to alumni/ae, faculty and friends who had made gifts in the
past. A large allocation is given every year to Child Life Services
at Mott Hospital, but other organizations helping children in
Washtenaw County are encouraged to apply for funds as well.
Recent allocations have benefited children’s programs at
the Hands-On Museum, the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti,
Ozone House, Hope Clinic and the SOS Community Crisis Center.
“Think about this — if you have $10 to give away,
it doesn’t feel like much to aid the children of Washtenaw
County. But when you donate that money to Galens, you become
part of a larger entity that is really making a difference in
children’s lives. Your $10 feels like more because you
are part of the $2,000 that went toward the new playground at
the low-income child care center,” says third-year medical
student Victoria Jewell, a three-year Galens member. “I
think that Galens promotes the giving spirit in the community
by showing people that every little bit helps. Even if you can’t
give as much as you would like to, you are still making a difference.”
Megan Schimpf is a third-year student in the Medical School
from East Lansing. She earned her under graduate degree, a bachelor
of science in
biology, from the University of Michigan in 1997. She was on
the staff of the Michigan Daily for six years, including one
year as a news editor, and two and a half years as an editorial
columnist. She earned a Gold Circle Award from the Columbia
Scholastic Press Association in 1998 for her column on her experiences
as a student in the anatomy lab. She is vice president of the
Galens Medical Society and has provided support for the Galens’
Smoker for the past two years, helping with the writing of the
script and design of the program and the scrapbook.
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