This Homecoming the CSAB -IT class ran the drive, focusing on relief for Hurricane Ida. On Sunday, August 29, Ida slammed into Louisiana with devastating force leaving more than 1 million customers without power as it flooded homes, ripped off roofs and trapped residents in dangerous rising waters. In New York and the Northeast, the effects were also brutal, with flooding leaving more than 400,000 people without power.
Director of Community Service, Shelley Topping-Omodunbi, discussed why the Students chose to focus on this cause. “When school started, Hurricane IDA had just recently passed. The office of special events wanted to bring the community together around homecoming. We decided to go for PEE for hurricane Ida and because covid is so prevalent in our communities and for folks that are already dealing with a disaster, contributing to helping fix a disaster and the collection of PPE is always necessary.”
When the CSAB-IT (Community Service Advisory Board) class was asked about where these donations were heading they discussed their partnership with the Afya Foundation. “We are happy and thankful to be partnering with the Afya Foundation! Afya is a nonprofit organization that accepts medical donations and distributes it to those who need it. They will be taking the PPE products we receive and will allocate them towards Hurricane Ida relief in the Tri-State area. Any leftover supplies will be donated towards the Covid crisis in India.”
CSAB-IT member, Talia Waxman, (IV), spoke a bit more about why the class settled on Hurricane Ida. “We chose Hurricane Ida because of its devastating impact on communities close to the Fieldston community and the desperate need of many families in recovering from the devastating storm… there were several families who were deeply affected, and we wanted to find the best means of which we could help them.” The CSAB-IT class chose to focus on collecting PPE products such as individually wrapped masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and other new PPE items for reducing the spread of COVID-19.
The drive ran from Friday, October 8th to Friday, October 22. The IT students collected more than their goal of a total of 20 boxes and 1000 units of each PPE product. The class collected a substantial number of donations for each of the PPE products with more arriving in the mail in the next couple weeks. “In total we collected over 5 boxes of essential products for people affected by Hurricane Ida with much more arriving and coming in. We are very thankful for all the donations and thankful for the support of the Fieldston Community,” said Waxman.
