Nursing students at Memorial's School of Nursing and the Centre for Nursing Studies put off a Charity Ball March 18 at the Capital Hotel in St. John's and raised over $2,000 for cerebral palsy while having a lot of fun.

"This is a wonderful event that highlights the best of nursing, working together for the good of a charity and for the good of others who need our help," said Dr. Sandra LeFort, director of Memorial's School of Nursing. "We donated $500 to the Nursing Charity Ball this year to support their event and the students really did a superb job."

Amanda Green, Charity Ball co-ordinator for the MUN School of Nursing (MUNSON), said there were 16 students involved in organizing this year's event, including Amanda Fredericks from the Centre for Nursing Studies (CNS) and Kerri Mercer, CNS Society president. The other organizers were all from Memorial's School of Nursing and represented students in the first three years of the bachelor of Nursing program.

"As the Charity Ball nursing student coordinator at Memorial, my goal was to make faculty and staff more aware of this annual charity event," said Ms. Green. "We had a good turnout of faculty from both MUNSON and the CNS including Dr. LeFort and Ann Marie Tracey, associate director, CNS. Some other non-students who attended included Debbie Forward, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses Union; Sandra MacDonald, president of the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador; and Anita Ludlow, chief nurse for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Prior to the event, MUN's nursing students arranged for Paul Thorne, a Memorial student with cerebral palsy, to speak to the MUNSON student society and nursing ball committee. "He made us aware of how others treat people with such a disability and made us more aware of what we were raising money for," said Ms. Green.

Dinner guests included Glenda Power, parent of a child with CP, and Andrea Crosbie, a volunteer at the CP Association. "I had no idea until that night how small the association was, and it made both myself and Amanda Fredericks proud to see that they appreciated what we had done," said Ms. Green.

"Overall the event went off with out a hitch, and I am proud to say that I organized this charity ball. We are still in the process of collecting money but I would imagine that it will exceed $2,000. I am also contacting the CP association about possibly volunteering with them and help them set up fundraisers to raise both money and awareness about it. Amanda Fredericks has also expressed interest in helping me help the CP association."