The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children works with volunteers all over the developing world, and now they have more on Lafayette’s campus.

Through a trip to Costa Rica, Kendall Kerr ’17 discovered the efforts of the FIMRC to improve the health of families throughout the developing world. Kerr returned home wanting to do her part.

“After I got back from my trip, a representative from headquarter’s reached out to me to ask me about my experience working with FIMRC,” she wrote in an email. “I asked about ways to stay involved – starting a chapter on campus was one of the suggestions she gave me. We officially met with student government and asked for approval in September.”

After holding their first general body meeting, the club gained about 30 members, according to Kerr. Five student officers head the group.

Kerr said the club’s involvement on campus is guided by the FIMRC’s three pillars: fundraising, volunteering and advocacy.

“We plan to hold fundraisers to raise money for one of FIMRC’s adopt-a-projects, which will help one of their sites complete a project that really needs to be done, such as building bridges to allow mothers in Uganda the ability to travel to facilities to give birth instead of having to birth their child at home,” she wrote.

“We plan to volunteer within Easton’s community, as well as raise public health awareness at Lafayette and in Easton,” she added.

Treasurer of the club Elise Reynolds ’18 said the club members’ interests in medicine brought them together for a common cause.

“All of us are interested in different careers in medicine and thought it sounded like a great way to involve ourselves in the medical community and we thought that other students at Lafayette would benefit in such health related activities,” Reynolds wrote in an email.

“I hope that we are able to help the Lafayette community engage in public health issues locally and abroad,” she added, “and give them a space to work with and gain experience in health related fields.”