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Student's senior project will raise funds for clinic

Tracy Farnham | The News Herald

Savannah Davis, who aspires to open a free clinic, is doing her senior project to raise funds for Good Samaritan.

By Tracy Farnham | The News Herald

Published: November 10, 2009

MORGANTON - It will begin to look a lot like Christmas on Sunday afternoon when the foyer and gymnasium of the Collett Street Recreation Center is transformed into a smorgasbord of holiday sights designed by John Griffin, an event planner from Raleigh who has worked with Martha Stewart.
The transformation is part of Patton High School senior Savannah Davis' senior project.
"I will be holding this fundraiser to raise much-needed money for Good Samaritan Center," she said.
"It will be an afternoon of holiday demonstrations, such as how to make easy holiday appetizers to take to a party. There will be lots of good information as well as great gift ideas," Davis said.
There also will be a fashion show by Belk, appetizers and coffee, demonstrations on how to wrap the perfect present and how to decorate your tree like a professional and tips for decorating outdoors.
Area businesses and hair stylists will have booths and Cornerstone Counseling in Hickory will provide seminars on how to manage holiday stress.
Davis said she contemplated ideas for her senior project and initially wanted to do one for St. Jude's Hospital where her cousin was treated for cancer. Then she became a volunteer at Good Samaritan Clinic. Her involvement and passion for working with people in need also spurred Davis toward her career choice.
"I began volunteering here for my internship and I saw the needs here. I want to go to college in order to pursue a career in public health administration and I plan to open my own free clinic one day," Davis said. "I have a passion for helping homeless people."
"While working at the Good Samaritan Clinic, I have seen the demand increase dramatically with the crisis in our economy and the cost of health care rising," Davis said. "I have also seen as the need for care goes up, the donations go down."
"I want to raise awareness of the work the Good Samaritan Clinic does, as well as of my event so I can raise much-needed money to help them serve as many people as possible," she said.
Davis averages 20 hours a week at the clinic, filing charts, answering the phone and scheduling patients.
"She is my right arm and she is wonderful in her work at the clinic," said Jane Cooke who works in the front office at Good Samaritan.
Dr. Tammy Boyd said, "She has a strong work ethic and she is very dedicated and mature for her age. You don't see many kids her age working in a clinic like this."
Both Boyd and Cooke endorsed Davis' fundraising idea.
"It is a great idea — very creative. People can have fun, get informed and the clinic benefits," Boyd said.
Davis wrote her senior-project research paper on all the free services offered in Burke County, with a concentration on the clinic. Others are House of Refuge, the Outreach Center and Burke United Christian Ministries.
"I told how they got started and how they are keeping things going, along with the qualifications people have to meet in order to receive services," Davis said.
During the fundraiser, she will make a presentation that includes patients' notes about how the clinic helped them.
Davis' mentor for the project is Stacey Ripley, an event planner with Honeybees Event Consulting in the Morganton area. Ripley does a number of fundraising events and was able to link Davis with several Morganton contacts, making this a must-attend holiday fundraiser — one that could easily become an annual tradition.
"I would love to take this event, along with Savannah, and make it into something really big, include more young people and continue on," Ripley said. "I really admire her in taking this project on. Savannah has always been a wonderful young lady and wanted to be there for anyone that needed her."
The event runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available at the Collett Street Recreation Center and the Good Samaritan Clinic or by calling 584-6227. They also will be available at door.
Sunday's tickets have a printed price of $20, but any donation will be accepted. All proceeds go to the Good Samaritan Clinic.