The Sophie Fund’s 2024 Cupcake Button fundraiser is live! Each October, we coordinate with college student organizations to raise monies for a local nonprofit focused on community well-being.
This year’s campaign is collecting donations for the Ithaca Free Clinic, helmed by Executive Director Norbert McCloskey. As its name indicates, the Free Clinic provides medical and other health services to clients regardless of their ability to pay. It primarily serves individuals who are without health insurance, or whose health insurance does not cover the services they need.
“Health care as a human right”
According to McCloskey, the Free Clinic provides healthcare services to people who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid, are too young to be eligible for Medicare, and do not earn nearly enough to afford usable, low copay and low deductible health insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act’s Market Place.
“These are good people stuck in a bad place. The Ithaca Free Clinic provides no-cost healthcare services for these individuals that they can find nowhere else in our region,” he said.
In the first eight months of 2024, the Free Clinic provided free health care services to 671 individuals (438 female patients and 233 male patients) in 1,269 scheduled appointments.
The Free Clinic uses an Integrative Health Care model, which mixes conventional medical methods with complementary methods in a coordinated manner. It provides the following free services for uninsured and under-insured individuals by licensed, certified, and trained community volunteers:
Medical Clinics. Free primary health care, medical testing, women’s health services, and employment physicals for the uninsured.
Chronic Care Program. Targeting at-risk individuals who need help managing persistent pain, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.
Financial Advocacy. Helping find creative solutions to relieving financial debt for those struggling to keep up with medical bills.
Ithaca Health Fund. Offering grants to those needing help affording diagnostic tests, treatments and prescriptions.
Insurance Navigation. Help in qualifying and enrolling uninsured individuals in various Medicaid plans.
Holistic Health Care Services. That include chiropractic, therapeutic massage, herbal therapy, and acupuncture.
Occupational Therapy. Creating healthy self-care routines, building connections with others, using technology for managing health, learning about supports in the community.
Food Pharmacy. Registered dietician services and free healthy food items.
Prescription Medication Support. Assistance in obtaining free or low-cost prescription medications like insulin.
Optometry Clinic and Optician Services. Free dilated eye exams and glaucoma screenings and free prescription eye glasses.
Health Education. Conducting free community chronic disease health screenings, educational seminars, lectures and open houses to deliver crucial health information to our community.
The by-appointment-only clinic does not provide primary care for individuals with health insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, employer-based, etc.). It does not provide emergency care or narcotics prescriptions.
McCloskey said that the Free Clinic receives no federal or state financial funding, completely relying on community support in the form of monetary donations, in-kind donations, and the generous donation of the time and talent of its volunteers.
The Ithaca Free Clinic opened in 2006 as one of the first to offer both primary medical and holistic care through an integrated model. The Ithaca Health Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors and operates the Ithaca Free Clinic. The Alliance has been dedicated to seeking solutions to local healthcare challenges since 1997.
This year’s Cupcake Button campaign for the Ithaca Free Clinic is supported by many student organizations, including Cornell University’s Cornell Circle K, Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH), Alpha Phi Omega–Gamma Chapter, and Cornell Minds Matter.
Students raise money through various in-person activities (and provide donors with Cupcake Buttons) on campus and in the community.
Community members may also contribute to the campaign directly through The Sophie Fund’s DONATE button.
Since 2017 the Cupcake Button campaigns have raised more than $7,000 for organizations including: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; Advocacy Center of Tompkins County; Village at Ithaca; The Learning Web; National Alliance on Mental Illness–Finger Lakes; and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.
The symbol of the campaign is a Cupcake Button, because the fundraising takes place in the runup to the Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest hosted by The Sophie Fund. To enter this year’s cupcake contest held on October 19, click here.
For more information about The Sophie Fund, go to: www.thesophiefund.org
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