Nurses hit the bar to raise funds for Thai clinical work

Devon Beard and 11 other Kwantlen University College nursing students are hoping to do their clinical placement in Thailand next summer.

But helping the sick and injured has its price: the five-week trip will cost anywhere from $1,800 to $3,200 for each student. So as well as attending third-year classes, Beard and classmates plan will spend the next year raising funds.

They start Friday, Sept. 26, when they host a club night at the Mirage Nightclub in Surrey. The event begins at 9 p.m., tickets are $10 and there’s a free drink if you arrive before 10 p.m.

“We’re hoping to do a lot of other fundraisers throughout the year to raise money as well,” says Beard. “We’re pretty much just getting started right now. This is our first event, and it’s been kind of hectic…so hopefully it will go well.”

Beard said the nursing students want to work with children in Thailand.

“We’re going to HIV clinics and orphanages and working with the kids…teaching them about prevention and hand washing — basic stuff like that,” she said.