Donors from across the country came together for the 2024 For the Greater Good, making a record-setting 2,062 gifts to raise $767,919 to support UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.
The giving day began at noon March 27 and concluded at noon March 28. In its second year, the 2024 event surpassed last year’s 1,542 gifts and this year’s increased target of 1,800 gifts.
Nebraska Medicine CEO James Linder, MD, and UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, thanked donors for their generosity.
“Transformation on the medical center campus is driven by philanthropy,” Dr. Linder said. “For the Greater Good is an opportunity for all UNMC and Nebraska Medicine supporters to give to campus causes that they support, allowing us to grow our education, research and patient care missions.”
Dr. Gold said: “UNMC would like to thank the many donors who helped us make our second annual giving day so successful. We are humbled by the support shown to UNMC and its many colleges, divisions, institutes and programs. Again, the citizens of Nebraska have shown their commitment to philanthropy and to supporting the vital work of UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.”
More than 70 matches and challenge gifts totaling $571,000 were established as part of For the Greater Good to encourage alumni, friends and grateful patients to support their favorite college or area. Drs. Linder and Gold were among the generous donors to establish challenges, with Dr. Linder supporting the UNMC College of Nursing and Encompass Omaha, a hospital-based violence intervention program. Dr. Gold established a challenge gift for student scholarships in memory of Omaha philanthropist Bill Scott, a longtime University of Nebraska supporter who died Feb. 27.
UNMC College of Nursing Dean Lepaine Sharp-McHenry, DNP, said to receive a nursing scholarship is “life changing for many of our students.”
“Their ability to enter into our nursing program is directly linked to their ability to pay,” she said. “As scholarship recipients, our students are able to shift their thinking from cost to critical thinking.”
She noted that the Nebraska Center for Nursing Excellence predicts a need for 5,436 new nurses by 2025.
“The need for nurses is not going away,” Dr. Sharp-McHenry said. “We are so appreciative for our donors who support the College of Nursing in educating the next generation of nurses. Your gift is making an impact not only on the lives of our students but on the future of health care delivery and access in Nebraska.”
For the Greater Good also provided fundraising opportunities for the 43 student organizations registered to participate. One of those groups is the Student Association for Rural Health, which seeks to empower students interested in practicing health care in a rural area. Kelsey Green, a fourth-year medical student from Neligh, Nebraska, said she appreciates the opportunity to travel to Nebraska communities to see rural health care in action.
“Personally, it has done a lot for me,” she said of the group. “I’ve learned a lot about rural health disparities that I wasn’t even aware of.”
Green said she also has been able to develop leadership skills as she prepares to become a general surgeon. “It feels good to be giving back,” she said, adding that she would like to practice medicine in a rural area, ideally in northeast Nebraska near her hometown, after she finishes her medical training.
Austin Fernau, first-year occupational therapy student at UNMC, said he hopes For the Greater Good can help expand the Student Occupational Therapy Association. Fernau, the student organization’s president, said the group is focused on connecting students and bringing more knowledge to the field of occupational therapy.
“We really want to try to recruit more professionals of occupational therapy and help our students gauge what they want to do once they graduate,” he said.