The holidays remind us this is the season of giving. All members of SUNY make a concerted effort to volunteer and contribute to their respective campuses and local communities. The 30 Days of Giving campaign highlights students and faculty across all of our 64 campuses who participate in volunteerism and give back to those in need. With over 467,000 students and three million alumni, we want to celebrate the impact the SUNY community has made in all of their unique community service projects. As we learned last year, the byproduct of taking volunteerism to scale is not only building character in our students themselves as they join our over three million alumni, but also to set an example of impact as the nation’s largest university system.
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Day 21
Empire State College
Hudson Valley Center 3rd Annual Holiday Clothing Drive reaches Sharing Community in Yonkers
Empire State College‘s Hudson Valley Center (HVC) employees have once again worked together to help bring an early holiday to the Sharing Community in Yonkers.
Co-organizer Dr. Michael Parsons was especially thankful to HVC employees.
“During our first two years, we came together to donate, sort, fold, label and box clothing according to type of need; this year many of the donations were already pre-sorted, folded and some still had tags on them. I’m overwhelmed with the generosity of our Center, both for their giving and with their commitment to being a part of our local community”.
Co-organizer Tom Brady added, “It is a moving experience to give to those who are less fortunate knowing that any of us could find ourselves in similar situations needing help from the community, it is especially rewarding to know that HVC has become so integrated within the community”.
The clothing drive is aligned with HVC Dean Gary Lacy’s new ACE (Community Engagement) initiative to promote Empire State College as an integral part of the fabric of the local community.
The sharing community operates an emergency shelter, food programs, community outreach and training programs for southwest Yonkers. The impetus for HVC support of the program stemmed from the concerns of those who donated to ensure that the intended recipients directly benefit from all donations.
During delivery of the items, thankful recipients expressed gratitude. One man asked for socks while another requested shoes.
For others wishing to donate, we will vouch for the authenticity of an organization that is helping to save, support and transform lives. Further donations can be provided to http://www.thesharingcommunity.org.
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