Medicine, Education and Development for Low-Income Families (MEDLIFE) is a non-profit organization that aids low-income families in Latin America and Africa. The organization has chapters all over the globe, and the chapter at SRU is relatively new, beginning approximately five years ago.
Quinn Adams, a senior exercise science and Spanish double major, is only the second president of the organization. MEDLIFE has many volunteer and fundraising opportunities, as well as the chances to do service learning trips.
MEDLIFE at SRU is trying to regain focus on the organizations main values: medicine, education and development. Some specific activities the club has done to make steps towards achieving these values is local volunteer and fundraising events. They donate the money to MEDLIFE. They also partner with food initiatives to help support partner communities in Ecuador.
These are some small things the club does to try and get around the barriers of COVID-19. They are hoping that in May 2023 they will be able to go onto another service learning trip.
Although the club may seem geared towards those going into the medical field, Adams said they are trying to branch out and reach people in different majors.
“Currently, most of our members are pre-health majors, I would say that’s because they see ‘MED’ and think ‘medicine,'” Adams said. “We would like to reach out to more education majors, safety majors.
“We’re just a volunteer organization.”
Adams also emphasizes the benefit of the club being a global project.
“People can participate in service learning trips, any age, any time. That’s the thing, this is bigger than our campus,” Adams said.
Those interested in joining MEDLIFE or learning more can reach out via CORE, Instagram (@medlifesru) and Adams’ email, qka1001@sru.edu.
