SAPA shows the love with Valentine’s fundraiser

The Student Alliance for People of All Abilities (SAPA) again held its annual flower sale in February, raising funding to support the student organization’s efforts to increase health care accessibility for different patient populations who are traditionally marginalized in medicine.

SAPA members distribute flowers at MMI.

The flowers, which were ordered online, could be picked up on Feb. 12. But many buyers, Mishek said, ordered flowers which they then donated to families served by SAPA’s partner organizations, including UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute. SAPA members distributed flowers the weekend before Valentine’s Day.

SAPA is a UNMC group featuring UNMC student from all colleges. It was formed in 2018 with the goal of raising awareness of the health care needs of people with disabilities and increasing the quality of care for them.

Henry Mishek, a medical student and a member of the SAPA board, said the funds would support SAPA’s programming.

“This year, we held workshops to teach about accessibility issues for the deaf community in Omaha,” Mishek said. “Health care students and staff, and even students from other medical and dental schools, attended the workshops virtually.

The workshops focused on discussing the challenges facing deaf patients in the health care environment and how providers could help. The classes also featured a brief, medically relevant ASL training — “not enough to eliminate the need for a translator, but to help make the patients more comfortable and show them you’re making an effort to get to know them and know their culture,” Mishek said.

Funding from the annual flower sale will help support future workshops, as well as SAPA’s work with HETRA, a nonprofit that does equine therapy with children with autism, and the group’s extensive partnerships with MMI.

This year’s effort raised more than $1,500, doubling the funds raised at the first event in 2020. According to SAPA, 60% of the flower orders were donations to staff and caretakers of those with intellectual or developmental disabilities at MMI and Sheltering Tree, a living community for people with developmental disabilities. Forty percent were personal flower orders for Valentine’s Day. Loess Hills Floral Studio was the florist partner for the fundraiser.

“This year went a little better because we had more time to plan it,” Mishek said. “These funds will help make our workshops and other efforts sustainable. We are looking forward to a productive 2021.”