Timmy Foundation trick-or-treating fundraiser starts Friday

The Timmy Foundation wants people to stock up on medical supplies instead of candy on Halloween.

IU students involved in the Timmy Foundation are giving people bags for their “Trick or Treat for Timmy” fundraiser from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday throughout Bloomington.

The foundation works to improve health services and education in third world countries through student-led mission trips. On Halloween, the students will go back to the houses they visited dressed in their costumes to collect the bags.

The only catch is that the students aren’t looking for a sugar rush. Instead, they want to collect medical supplies for people living in Quito, Ecuador.

The bags will include a list of medical supplies such as Tums, Ibuprofen children’s liquid, Neosporin cream and Claritin that they would like people to donate, according to the event’s flier.

Residents who choose to participate in the fundraiser can leave their bags full of medical supplies outside of their door on Halloween, said Amanda Buck, Timmy Foundation member.

Eighteen students from the organization will take the collected supplies to Ecuador during IU’s spring break as part of their annual medical mission trip, said Katie Lilly, the Timmy donations chair.

The fundraiser is a bit of an experiment, Lilly said. The “Trick or Treat for Timmy” event has only been done once before, but it was not successful. Lilly said the group wants to change that.

Buck said 20 to 30 members from the organization will participate in the fundraiser.
The trip to Ecuador will be the first for the IU chapter of the Timmy Foundation.

“I know there is poverty here in the U.S. that needs to be addressed, but the poverty over there is worse,” Lilly said.

Lilly has been on two mission trips with the Timmy Foundation.

The group goes on different mission medical trips every year, Lilly said. In the past the group has gone to the Dominican Republic and Honduras.

The Timmy Foundation sends different student chapters on the medical mission trips throughout the year.

Other fundraising initiatives the group has been doing throughout the year are grocery drives where students pass out fliers and have drop boxes where people can donate canned goods to the organization.

Anyone who would like to donate medical supplies to the Timmy Foundation can contact Lilly at kmlilly@indiana.edu.