Above photo: Creighton’s SNaHP chapter raises over $1,000 in a bake sale fundraiser event hosted in April. Allison Benjamin.
Creighton’s Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) chapter has worked to advocate and raise money for individuals struggling with medical debt.
The organization recently reached their fundraising goal, raising over $10,000 for the non-profit Undue Medical Debt.
“We believe [that] healthcare should be given out according to who needs healthcare, not who can pay for it.” -Allison Benjamin, College of Arts and Sciences Senior
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, Creighton’s Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) chapter has worked to advocate and raise money for individuals struggling with medical debt. The organization recently reached their fundraising goal, raising over $10,000 for the non-profit Undue Medical Debt.
SNaHP is a single-issue organization that advocates for single-payer universal healthcare through legislative advocacy and education.
According to Allison Benjamin, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the outgoing president of Creighton’s SNaHP chapter, their mission is to achieve affordable, accessible and quality healthcare for all.
“We believe [that] healthcare should be given out according to who needs healthcare, not who can pay for it,” Benjamin said.
This year the organization expanded their efforts to include fundraising. Since the fall, they have held various events to raise money for Undue Medical Debt.
Undue Medical Debt is a non-profit organization that works to erase medical debt by negotiating with hospitals to buy the debt for pennies on the dollar.
Benjamin hopes that this partnership can provide short-term solutions to the larger issue.
“…It’s not going to solve all the problems with healthcare financing and how unaffordable healthcare is in in the United States, but it [is] something that definitely provides relief to people and we think that’s important,” Benjamin said.
She explained further the need for their participation in the cause.
“Having medical debt and specifically having past-due medical debt has a lot of negative consequences for people,” Benjamin said.
Some of the consequences she mentioned included food and housing insecurity, as well as health complications due to stress.
Over the course of the year, fundraising efforts included the Dance Off Debt event in October, tabling events, bake sales and simply calling friends, family and potential donors on the phone.
Their most recent bake sale, held on April 1, made over $1,000 alone.
“Who would have thought that you could make $1,000 on muffins and cookies?” said Autumn Woolpert, a senior in the Heider College of Business and vice president of Political Advocacy for SNaHP.
With the conclusion of the recent bake sale, the club officially reached their goal of raising $10,000 for the year.
This accomplishment means a great deal to those in SNaHP, as some of the students, such as Woolpert, share a deep connection with the cause. Woolpert shared that she has family members who have struggled with medical debt.
“It was something that was like really personal to me and I understand the fact that medical debt isn’t a result of poor financial decisions, but it’s a result of the way that the current healthcare system works,” Woolpert said.
Woolpert reflected on the impact that their student organization’s efforts can have on families.
“[Anyone] can make a difference and it’s definitely possible for [a] group of students to do something that is really impactful,” Woolpert said.
Woolpert noted that, although they have reached their goal, SNaHP’s work is not finished. On April 28, they will be holding another fundraising event on the mall where students can make flower bouquets.