Make a donation to support the HELIOS lab
Your gift can level the playing field
A little goes a long way…
Since 2017, the HELIOS lab has offered offered incredible clinical, service and research experiences to over 100 diverse pre-health undergraduate student members on their way to a career in medicine or other health professions. But there are lots of practical expenses that make it hard for first generation and underrepresented students, like most of the members of HELIOS, to participate in these kinds of experiences.
Summer stipends to participate in intensive summer programs, like our SHARE-FM Summer Program, which provide intensive clinical, professional development and research experiences to boost confidence and competitiveness for med school admissions
Snacks and meals for meetings and community events, where students put in long hours and often don’t have affordable food options
Lyft and parking expenses, to get to our clinical and community sites around the county. More than half of our members do not have a car, and most of our work sites are not accessible by public transit.
Conference registration and travel scholarships to gain professional experience and boost the resume
MCAT prep resources and funding to help close the gap for students without the ability to pay for expensive prep courses and tutors.
Help level the playing field for future health professionals with a heart for health equity
Research shows that relatively “small” expenses like the items above can put underrepresented students at a significant disadvantage in their career journey. We’ve been creative to try to cover these expenses when financial aid and grants do not. Since June 2022, HELIOS students have directly received over $8,000 in support for the items above.
To continue, or even expand, this support, we need your help!
🏦 Tax Deductible, and super easy online
🫶 Goes directly to funding and resources for Students!
💸 1-to-1 match from Dr. B for the first $1,000 raised
🎁 Free gift created by a HELIOS member and hand-written thank you card
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Easy and tax deductible
To donate, please just:
Go to the UCI Giving Day donation page for Family Medicine between now and April 16th, at https://givingday.uci.edu/amb/helios
Click the “give” button
Select Family Medicine for Area of Giving and Family Medicine General for “Fund Designation”. Using the links from this page ensures the funds are marked to go to HELIOS and our related pipeline activities.
Select or enter the amount you wish to give
Provide your billing details and submit! Your receipt for your tax deductible donation will be emailed directly to you.
And if you are willing, please select to display your name on the Donor Wall! You can hide the amount, but we want to see the names of all our friends represented!
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Direct Impact
This year, donations made via our direct link to the Family Medicine General Fund will be allocated to the HELIOS lab and our related pipeline program activities! The funds we are requesting aren’t for faculty or staff salaries or operating expenses. We just want to offer resources directly to our students to remove barriers for our students to gain valuable experience on their career journey.
Last year, 57 unique donors contributed $5,400 to HELIOS which we used to cover big and little expenses for our students to access opportunities.
Highlights for our 24 HELIOS members include:
10 lab members being sent to attend national conferences to present their research and gain professional development.
Accumulating a total of 3,746 combined hours of clinical service experience and 1,758 in-person patient interactions in Spanish and English at 3 safety net clinics around the county.
Supporting 56 Spanish-language group health education class session for adults with uncontrolled hypertension.
Completing 7 student research projects presented at student and professional conferences
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Dollar for dollar match challenge
Dr. B will be personally matching dollar for dollar the first $1,000 that is contributed, so your donation will go twice as far!
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Special Gift
We also have a special gift for our supporters
For any current HELIOS student member that donates $5 or more…
For any HELIOS alum that donates $10 or more…
For anyone else that donates $25 or more…
Dr. B will personally send you a hand written thank you card and this beautiful vinyl HELIOS lab decal designed by HELIOS student Sai Tulugu. This decal is inspired by the “petr” sticker drop guerilla art campaign that plays off UCI’s Peter the Anteater mascot
This 3x2 inch decal is your free gift if you become a HELIOS supporter by April 16!
Join a movement.
The number of contributions matters more than the amount!
Please give what is comfortable. Even small amounts go a long way. More names on the donor wall will tell UCI leadership the importance of the mission to advance health equity by supporting future health professionals. And will show the HELIOS students how many people are pulling for their success.