Oct. 19, 2021–Missouri Western State University’s Max the Vax COVID-19 vaccine incentive program has ended with drawings to award a $5,000 cash prize to one student and one employee. The student grand prize winner was Alicia Castaneda, a junior elementary education major from St. Joseph, while the employee winner was Dr. David Kratz Mathies, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities.
“Thank you to Alicia, to David, and to the more than 1,200 other Griffons who received the vaccination and did their part to help keep our campus healthy,” said Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, Missouri Western’s president. “As of the last update to our COVID-19 dashboard Monday, there hadn’t been an active case of COVID-19 on campus since Sept. 29, and those who have been vaccinated helped us accomplish that.”
Overall, more than one-third of the campus has told the University that they are vaccinated, including 29 percent of students and 85 percent of employees. Participation was voluntary, so organizers believe the actual vaccination rate is higher.
“Although we would like to see higher vaccination rates, I’m pleased that participation among students almost doubled from 15 percent at the time of our first drawing,” said Dr. Crystal Harris, dean of the College of Science and Health and Missouri Western’s COVID-19 response coordinator. “Participation by employees went up significantly during the incentive program as well, from 59 percent to 85 percent. My hope is that we will continue to see students and employees get vaccinated and get boosters as recommended.”
The University continues to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and will host another vaccine clinic with Heart to Heart International on Tuesday, October 26.
A total of $24,000 in cash and prizes were awarded to students and employees in weekly drawings from Aug. 27 through Oct. 15. Previous winners in the Max the Vax program include:
Students
$2,500 cash prize: Hunter Rumachik
$500 cash prizes: Lesley Felix, Kaitlyn Slagle and Gabby Trump
$250 Barnes & Noble College Bookstore Gift Certificate: Dan Bruce, Talia Garcia, Mataya Gilbert, Kiah Kitchen, Hai Le, Winter McCrary, Tara Stoll, Tamrin Swann, Kathryn Thompson and Grace Williams
$100 Barnes & Noble College Bookstore Gift Certificate: Zack Cushing, Amanda Daniel, Bailey Daniels, Ruta Dobson, Rokhaya Drame, Shelby Emory, Kiersten Howell, Marissa Hunt, Kennedy Ruffcorn and Hunter Rumachik
Employees
$2,500 cash prize: Beth Roland
$500 cash prizes: Linda Evans, Laura Nold and Kim Sigrist
$100 in Flex Dollars from Aramark Dining: Claudia Baer, Megan Berberich, Susan Deering, Angela Haas, Susan Martens, Beth Ann Reinert, Mike Ritter, Nila Schneider, Paula Sigman and William Stout
$50 in Flex Dollars from Aramark Dining: Jana Frye, David Harris, Andrea Keller, Adam McGowan, Jones Mutua, Evan Noynaert, Maureen Raffensperger, Cassie Robbins, William Russell and Zhao Zhang
Reserved parking space for one year: Ronnie Estes, Jacklyn Gentry, David Kratz Mathies and Baoqiang Yan
Missouri Western State University is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit missouriwestern.edu.