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CHP students provide caring role in community by Cindy Abole Public Relations Sharing a sense of caring and duty within the Lowcountry community is the aim of College of Health Professions students who are members of the Association of Black Health Pro-fessionals (ABHP). With only 13 members, these minority men and women share a esprit de corps attitude towards service despite their studies, practice rotations, and academic commitments.  MUSC Association of Black Health Professionals students Tauna Eaddy, from left, Tamara Middleton, Mardell Bates, and Dedra Simmons join children at the Pink House, a neighborhood program and learning resource center. The students combine tutoring and mentoring activities as part of their busy volunteer and community service activities. On April 21, ABHP was among six groups that received honorable citations during the 2003-04 MUSC Gives Back Community Volunteer Awards. The group maintains a busy volunteer slate working at community health and career fairs, conducting blood pressure screenings at February’s Minority Health Fair at the City Gym or talking students at Burke High School about health careers.  The CHP students also work with children, ages 4 to 10, at the Pink House (People Innovating New Kinships Helping Others Uplift Services and Education), an after-school learning resource center. They help the children with homework, develop study skills and guide them through a Friday Field Day program that focuses on physical education and fitness activities through games and play.  “We try to be active mentors and role models to these children,” said Tauna Eaddy, a third-year physical therapy student in the College of Health Professions and ABHP member. “It’s great knowing that we can serve effectively in a big brother/big sister role.” ABHP students also share their time at Randolph’s House, a community home for the elderly who have little family support, through visits and activities with residents. A highlight for four students was participating in a 10-day medical mission trip to Toyondou, South Africa, last May. On campus, they participated in the American Medical Student Association’s annual Diabetic Halloween Carnival, sponsoring an activity booth providing creative games, face-painting, and an  interactive outlet between members and children diagnosed with diabetes.  Faculty advisor Michele Norman, Ph.D., couldn’t be happier about the group’s impact on campus and within the community. An assistant professor with the Department of Rehabilitative Sciences in the College of Health Professions, Norman has been an active advisor for the group since 2002. She and co-advisor Tiffani Myers participated in fund-raising events and supported their volunteer partnerships with advice and suggestions. Each year, the students dedicate much of their time and fund-raising efforts toward a specific charitable agency or organization that benefits from their charity Autumn Gala.  Last year, they chose Access Network Inc. and its focus on HIV/AIDS Services for the Lowcountry.  The group organized car washes, bake sales, social dances, and other activities raising $2,000 and adding more than 280 hours of volunteer time on behalf of this charity. ABHP students also conducted an awareness week teaching others about HIV/AIDS and its prevention and prevalence in the Lowcountry.  “It’s nice to see them handle things  like the Autumn Gala on their own,” said Norman, who has been a volunteer throughout her professional career. “I’m proud that these students continue to stay strong and committed to the group’s goals and activities despite the challenges of student schedules and commitments.” In April, Norman was recognized for her volunteer work with the William T. Simkins Service Award from the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing. Today, the group remains busy planning activities for this year’s Autumn Gala, which will benefit the Reach 2010 Charleston and Georgetown Diabetes Coalition focusing on diabetes awareness and education. The group agreed that a portion of this year’s fund-raising efforts will go towards a memorial donation supporting construction of the new College of Health Professions complex, honoring Kim Martino, a 2003 CHP alumnus and former ABHP member who died recently.   Friday, May 7, 2004 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.