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Making a difference
When Nathan Shafir donated to the recent Monash staff philanthropy appeal he never imagined he would directly help a student study medicine.
“I was very impressed. It was not anything that I could have conceptualised”, he said.
Now in its second year, the Monash staff philanthropy appeal is an opportunity for staff to make a difference to the lives of Monash students.
The campaign allows staff to direct their support to a specific faculty or program within the University.
Nathan Shafir, who teaches marketing at Monash College and works as a sessional teacher in the Faculty of Business and Economics, directed his donation to the equity and diversity centre.
The equity and diversity centre supports students with physical disability, some form of physical impairment or mental health problems.
Nathan was pleased to learn that his donation of $400 went towards the purchase and loan of a digital stethoscope to a medicine student with a hearing impairment.
This equipment has made a significant difference to the student’s experience during medical rounds.
First-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery student Mae said that with the e-stethoscope, clear and good quality sounds were transmitted instantly via bluetooth to her hearing aids.
"The ease of use and quality sounds produced by the e-stethoscope has definitely boosted my confidence level and assisted me in my studies especially in the clinical examination module,” she said.
Nathan has taught at Monash for the past six years, before that he was involved in running his own businesses.
Volunteering and community work have always been a big part of his life.
He has worked with community organisations as a volunteer, sat on various boards, been involved with sporting bodies and charities.
Nathan’s connection with Monash began before he started working here—through his children.
Three of his four sons are Monash graduates.
However, his philanthropy began at Swinburne University, where another of his sons has completed a degree.
Nathan began donating to Swinburne’s annual appeal and directed his donation specifically to their disability support service. He had had some contact with the disability services at Swinburne and was very impressed with their activities.
However, he could see that they were under resourced. “It is not a glamorous, high profile area but disability services need money”, he said.
When Monash announced a staff appeal Nathan did not have to think twice about contributing.
When asked where he wanted his donation directed he followed his previous practice to support disability services.
“Giving to any cause is important because there are always people in a worse position than you—it doesn’t matter if the donation is big or small.
"Even if you can’t donate money you can always volunteer your time”, he said.
“Giving back to the university where I work and where my sons gained a good education is a way of saying that I appreciate what the organisation has done for me and my family. If I can do something in a small way to show my support for the organisation — why not?
“It is great to see that something that is not terribly expensive can make an incredible difference to a student’s education."
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