PCCM+CCM Fellowship 2020 Class Gift
Dear Faculty and Faculty Alumni,
The Stanford Pulmonary & Critical Care Classes of 2020 are forever indebted to our faculty and staff for our growth, education and development as future leaders. By completing this fellowship, we have sworn to uphold our roles as the highest exemplars of our profession—to our patients, their families, our trainees, and all the staff we interact with in the hospital.
Given the events of 2020, it has become increasingly evident that part of being a 'future leader' is not just delivering excellent medical care. To us, leadership also means recognizing and challenging the structural violence toward vulnerable populations and racial/gender injustice that is too often inherent in our healthcare system and the communities we serve.
We will be remembered as the class that battled COVID-19 head on, the class that protested the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor as supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement to protect the bodies and livelihoods of people of color. These two phenomena are inseparable, as we've seen disadvantaged minority populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic throughout Santa Clara County, and throughout low- and middle-income countries worldwide.
With all this in mind, the Stanford Pulmonary & Critical Care Classes of 2020 will be contributing to organizations that are taking action against racism and empowering young people of color in our disadvantaged communities.
We invite you to donate in order to match our contributions. Consider it a graduation gift to us!
There are two ways to donate:
1. Donate directly to our venmo account, @STANFORD_CCM_2020, specifying in the comments "2020 Class Gift", and 100% of all funds will go directly to the charities specified. You have the option to specify in comments what percentage of your donation goes to each org (YUCA and ActBlue-BLM), otherwise we will default to splitting 50-50.
2. Visit our gofundme page here. Keep in mind that there is a 2.9% service charge that gofundme charges for each donation. Donations via gofundme will be split 50-50 between the two recipient organizations.
We have set as our goal to raise at least $10,000 by the end of July 2020.
Here is more information on the two organizations we will donate to:
1. Youth United for Community Action E Palo Alto (YUCA) - As a community, East Palo Alto has a rich history of movement. It is a history borne out of struggle and the self-determined imagination of the Black Power movement that struggles led by other peoples of color are also driven by. But the spirit of organizing is well and alive in our community. These are the footsteps that young people from YUCA follow in order to carve our own paths. Young people from YUCA are principled fighters and leaders who put our words and ideals to action. Since 1994, YUCA youth have taken on pressing community issues - whether it is environmental racism, tenant rights, or juvenile justice. YUCA youth currently work on two campaigns: 1) to promote environmental health, justice, and anti-displacement principles in land use planning policies, and 2) to promote thriving school environments aiming to increase high school graduation rates and preparing students for college or career. Since its inception, YUCA believes that the people who are most affected should be the driving force to determining and bringing about their own solution. YUCA was founded on the belief that the most effective youth program should include the intense involvement of young people at all levels of the organization. As a result, representing our constituency, YUCA is led and run at all levels entirely by young people of color, majority low-income, majority women, thus providing an opportunity for us to define our own needs, determine our own vision, and implement it.
2. Black Lives Matter Global Network and Affiliates- Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
The donation will be made through Act Blue - "BLM and affiliates", which includes the following organizations, and more:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/freeblackmamas2020
https://www.blackvotersmatterfund.org/the-project
https://www.naacpldf.org/about-us/history/
Thank you for your kind generosity!
In Solidarity,
Stanford Critical Care Medicine Class of 2020
Stanford Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Class of 2020