Students wrap up semester with Donation Drive

On Friday, Dec. 7, volunteers swept the SUNY Fredonia campus collecting donations for the annual effort to benefit the local agencies of the Holiday Caregivers Coalition.

Twenty-five boxes of toys, 50 boxes of food, and 50 (60 gallon) bags of clothing were collected, sorted and packaged for transport by 67 student volunteers from various student organizations and residence halls, and university staff.

Faculty and staff were asked to put donations outside their office doors by noon on Friday, and volunteers stopped by and picked them up. Residential students were asked to put donations in the lobby of their building in the box labeled, “Campus-wide Donation Drive,” and donations were also accepted at the Williams Center.

For the eighth year in a row, Sam Mancuso from Mancuso Landscaping picked up the donations and distributed them to the Holiday Caregivers Coalition, a committee of local agencies including the United Way, the Salvation Army and the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry that comes together during the holiday season to distribute goods to those in need.

The donation drive was co-sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Counseling Center, the Learning Center, Volunteer Services, Residence Life, the Resident Assistant Advisory Board, and Student Affairs. Co-coordinators were Counselor Stephanie Wares and CEASE Coordinator Julie Bezek of the Counseling Center. Boxes to package the donations were provided by the SUNY Fredonia Facilities Management/Custodial Services area including Mark Delcamp and staff, and local stores Big Lots and O’Malia’s.