SPOKANE, Wash. — The Intercollegiate College of Nursing/Washington State University College of Nursing Associated Intercollegiate Nursing Student (AINS) organization is hosting a Pie-in-the-Face event Nov. 7 to raise money for a fellow student battling leukemia.
Classmates at the College of Nursing are hoping to raise $1,000 to help Maureen “Mo” Carr, a fifth-semester undergraduate nursing student who was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in March 2002.
Although Carr is being treated for the cancer, she has yet to move into complete remission. A costly $235,000 bone marrow transplant is the only curative treatment that will eradicate the chromosome mutation. Carr must raise $35,000 not covered by insurance.
A Wenatchee resident, Carr is receiving assistance from the National Transplant Assistance Fund (www.transplantfund.org), a national organization dedicated to education and assistance for individuals involved with organ, tissue and bone marrow transplantation and families of catastrophic injury victims. Among other benefits, NTAF offers direct financial assistance in the form of $1,000 challenge grants to eligible candidates, which Carr has received.
Jacqui Pegen, AINS president and event coordinator, has established ticket collection jars to determine which faculty and AINS officers will get a pie-in-the-face.
Tickets are being sold for $1 each on Carr’s behalf and deposited into one of eight containers — each with a designated “owner”– scattered throughout the campus hallways. The person with the most tickets in his/her container will get a pie (of choice) in the face at noon on Friday, Nov. 7. The event will be staged in the main hallway at the College of Nursing campus, 2917 W. Fort George Wright Drive in Spokane.
“AINS is designed to support our students in whatever way possible,” Pegen said. “When we found out about Mo, we wanted to help. We thought that a “pie-in-the-face” fundraiser would be a perfect way to increase internal and external awareness about Mo’s condition and other leukemia patients who may be facing a similar challenge.”
Carr, who is planning to graduate in December, is touched but not surprised by the support from her classmates. “The end-of-the-semester fundraiser signifies the commitment of support, camaraderie, caring and investment that my peers and mentors are moved to show to me during this difficult and unpredictable time,” she said. “While I am aware that most of my classmates will be job hunting and planning relocations after graduating in the next few months, my plans for the future include the bone marrow transplant, hopefully in December.”
Carr’s plans include learning as much as possible about oncology nursing through personal experience and mentorship in a local internship program. “I plan to return to the College of Nursing in three years to begin my master’s degree studies in the nurse practitioner program.”
Established in 1968, the Intercollegiate College of Nursing/WSU College of Nursing is the nation’s first, oldest and most comprehensive nursing education consortium. The College of Nursing offers baccalaureate, graduate and professional development course work to nursing students enrolled through its four consortium partners: Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, WSU and Whitworth College. Each year, the college educates more than 650 graduate and upper-division undergraduate students and prepares more entry-level nurses than any other educational institution in the state. For more information about the Intercollegiate College of Nursing/WSU College of Nursing, visit the college Web site at www.nursing.wsu.edu.
