Shifa Community Clinic, located in downtown Sacramento at 419 V St., will hold a basketball tournament fundraiser on Saturday. The tournament will take place on the Dairy Courts at UC Davis. The goal of the event is to raise money for the clinic, which serves underprivileged communities in Sacramento.
Mohamed Esuf, a Shifa board member and fourth-year biochemistry major, said that the tournament is something new the organization is doing this year.
“One of the main goals of our clinic is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle,” Esuf said. “We encourage all patients to be active and the tournament represents this by giving people a chance to do something healthy and active.”
The tournament will be held from 11 a.m. to about 5 p.m., Esuf said. Teams of three will play each other in a double-elimination round, and there are separate brackets for men and women. Each team is required to pay a $20 participation fee. Winning teams will receive prizes.
“This fundraiser is more focused on students, and in a way, that could work better than food fundraisers,” said Simrin Atwal, a Shifa volunteer and a fourth-year exercise biology major. “The tournament is an opportunity for people to be active, and I’ve talked to a few people so far who want to register simply because they haven’t had the chance to play basketball in years.”
Esuf said that a team of medical students is participating in the tournament, so it is open to anyone, not just undergraduates.
Shifa Community Clinic is a nonprofit student-run organization and mainly serves the uninsured South Asian and Middle Eastern community in Sacramento, Esuf and Atwal said. The clinic provides primary care services to the community and outreach to various mosques and temples to educate on illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Additionally, the clinic is an affiliate of the UC Davis School of Medicine, according to Shifa’s website.
“We get to help people and have cool interactions with patients [at the] clinic,” Atwal said. “We get to talk to them and learn about the situation they are in and why they don’t have health insurance. Some people just need confirmation that their health is in a good place, and we are able to give that to them.”
Undergraduates, medical students and doctors all work at the clinic. In addition to providing primary care services, the clinic also provides other services such as pediatrics, women’s care, retinopathy screening and chronic care.
Harmandeep Grewal, a Shifa volunteer and third-year exercise biology major, said that the tournament is a more involved way for people to support the clinic.
“We are giving people an outlet to be active in a competitive way and we will hopefully bring out people who just enjoy basketball for fun,” Grewal said. “It’s a fun way to give back.”
Members of the clinic will be tabling at the Memorial Union from noon to 2 p.m. until Saturday to promote the event. Those interested can also email Esuf at maesuf@ucdavis.edu.
PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
