“The goal is $16,000 to vaccinate 8,000 children,” he said. “The enthusiasm has been infectious. The students who have gone on the trip have caught the bug, and they have been able to communicate the value of this experience for the beneficiaries to other students.”

To meet their goal, the students are holding their final fundraiser of the year, a gala and silent auction at 6 p.m. Saturday at the MSU Horticulture Gardens, said comparative cultures and politics sophomore Sam Meyer.

Nine students worked at Shanti Ashram during summer 2009 and made it their mission to raise funds for the organization’s measles vaccination program.

In addition, students such as Meyer, who will study abroad in India this summer, got involved with MSU SAID to help Shanti Ashram before they even begin the program.

“As a student going there, we actually get to be at Shanti Ashram for one of the vaccinations clinics we helped pay for,” she said. “The kids who went last year are really jealous (because) we get to see how the funds have been helping.”

The vaccination clinics of Shanti Ashram will benefit the children of rural Coimbatore, India, and if the organization meets its goal, it could impact more than 8,000 children and community members, Dutkiewicz said.

“($16,000) is the magic number because that should produce community immunity,” he said. “Once we surpass a minimum vaccination threshold, typically 88 percent to 92 percent, you eliminate the disease reservoir and protect the entire community by the majority being immune.”

Political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore Kevin Pietrick said this study abroad appealed to him because he can learn about development while helping a community develop.

“We are working at the NGO, (which) we are helping fund,” he said.

The students participating in the program this summer will leave for India on May 13. Dutkiewicz, who also is the study abroad faculty leader, said the students will really understand how the importance of their work was upon arrival.

“The students will see in a very tangible way what is truly possible,” he said. “They will observe the impact of these vaccine clinics. It goes from an abstract concept to something, which is incredibly concrete.”