REDMOND, Wash. — Cura Project is a student-created, non-profit organization that’s uniting passionate volunteers during an isolating year.
Five friends from Redmond’s Tesla STEM High School teamed up to launch a unique fundraising non-profit that features a podcast, tutoring program, and webinars to raise awareness about various health conditions.
From rare genetic disorders to mental health, the Cura Project switches to support unique causes every two months. The students have raised thousands of dollars for numerous communities in need and have expanded their reach to include dozens of volunteers spanning the globe.
Cura Project's founders Karina Kejriwal, Rhea Kuppa, Bhavya Nadnikanti, Sravan Kundurthi, and Divya Singh are sophomores who say they felt compelled to use their time at home to make an impact and give back in the best way they know how. Utilizing the internet, they’ve raised awareness and financial support for leukemia/lymphoma, breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune diseases, childhood cancer, hypothyroidism, COVID-19 relief, and genetic disorders.
Through social media, they created a web of fans and advocates that Cura Project is leaning on for their summer plans.
“Camp Cura” is a virtual summer camp for middle and high school students who want to explore the medical field. A unique idea that the students said was a slow launch until TikTok took over.
“We just posted one video and then things went crazy," Karina said.
Every time they refreshed their feed the count grew by hundreds. The website suddenly had a swell of traffic and crashed. It is a good problem to have for a summer camp looking for interested students.
In 24 hours, Camp Cura sign-ups raised more than $3,000 for autoimmune diseases.
The students say it has been incredibly motivating to prove that, despite their ages, they can make a big impact on their community and even around the world.
Camp Cura is now accepting registration and also offers financial assistance.
“We just want people to join us and have fun and learn," Bhavya said.
The camp takes place on zoom over 12 days. The camp will feature a unique role in the medical field. Each session will be taught by a medical student. The internship-style access to the medical field will include Q&A with a medical professional in the industry.
Interested Middle and High School students can learn more online at www.curaproject.org/camp-cura.