Elizabeth “Libbie” Dellinger, who graduated from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in May, is the 2017 recipient of the Samuel B. Burrus Family Award for Community Service. The award is presented to a student currently enrolled in the School who exhibits outstanding and unselfish civic, community or church volunteer service provided outside the scope of regular pharmacy practice.
Dellinger studied at the School’s Asheville satellite campus and was nominated by Stephanie Kiser, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor in PACE and director of rural health and wellness.
Kiser said Dellinger has always gone above and beyond in her service, approaching it in an unselfish way. While Kiser recognized Dellinger’s commitment to organizations like the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry Free Clinic, Carolina Association of Pharmacy Students and the Kappa Epsilon pharmaceutical fraternity, she said she was struck mostly by Dellinger’s commitment to individuals. Kiser highlighted two specific instances that stuck out to her.
First, when she found out through Facebook that her high school principal needed a kidney, Dellinger got tested. When she learned she was a match, she gave him one. She had the surgery about a year ago, when she hadn’t seen her high school principal in 10 years.
Second, Kiser wrote about Dellinger’s commitment to a friend battling a rare disease for which she helped raise money and awareness through an innovative and unique Facebook campaign. The LAM balloon challenge, named for the rare lung disease lymphangioleiomyomatosis that affects women of child-bearing age, began as a Kappa Epsilon campaign and went national when it hit the web. Dellinger also organized a network of classmates to support her friend suffering from the condition.
“Libbie truly cares for and about people in a way that I can only envy from afar,” Kiser said.
The prize includes a monetary award for the individual winner, as well as one for the charity of their choice. The Burrus award is also given to an alumnus, but that presentation is at a separate ceremony.