A UT student is holding a local drive to collect Band-Aids for missionary hospitals in underprivileged countries.
Ashton Doane, freshman in speech pathology, plays multiple roles as a student, active volunteer and the current crowned Miss Fall Festival of Obion County. Doane will collect Band-Aid boxes from Nov. 3 to Nov. 21.
Collection boxes are located in all residence halls, as well as the Black Cultural Center and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
“I think we’ll get the best turnouts at churches and I’m hoping the people in the (residence) halls that don’t go to churches will participate through the collection boxes at their buildings,” Laura Gouge, sophomore in political science, said.
Doane said her goal is to collect 500 to 1,000 boxes of Band-Aids.
“My hope — goal — is to bring students together with this service project, also,” Doane said.
The Band-Aids will be given to Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief charity, who will redistribute them to countries such as India, Mongolia, Sudan and North Korea.
Tom Layton of the communication department at Samaritan’s Purse said, “If you’ve ever been to these missionary hospitals, so often they don’t even have the basics and (the Band-Aids) can make a big difference.”
Doane said she hopes that a successful Band-Aid drive will make a huge difference to these countries.
Gouge said she believes it is the right of everyone to be able to use a Band-Aid and hopes this fundraiser will extend this right to everyone around the world.
“Students will learn the importance of banding together in a common goal,” Gouge said.
Doane will be running for Miss Tennessee in 2009 on a volunteer platform and she hopes that this fundraiser will help her campaign. She has also volunteered and started a Father and Daughter Dance at the Knoxville East Tennessee Children’s Hospital last year that will continue this year.
“I love volunteering,” Doane said. “I love putting the focus on someone else and not on myself.”
Doane’s choice of a Band-Aid fundraiser was that college students would be more willing to participate since a box of Band-Aids are inexpensive. She said she hopes that her fundraiser will offer an opportunity for students to get involved and learn new ways to volunteer.
“Everyone wants to make a difference, and sometimes doing a little can make a big difference,” Layton said.
Alex Dunbar, sophomore in biology, also said that college students would want to participate.
“College students are cheap, and if a box of Hello-Kitty Band-Aids will brighten a little kid’s day, it’s completely worth it to me,” Dunbar said.