SUNY Canton Foundation Creates Haitian Student Relief Fund
Friday, January 29th, 2010Proceeds to benefit students who were affected by the devastating earthquakes
The SUNY Canton Foundation has begun a campaign to help SUNY Canton students from the devastated nation of Haiti.
“We’ve seen both immediate and long-term needs that we can help address through our own SUNY Canton Haitian Student Relief Fund,” said SUNY Canton Librarian and Haitian Fund Chair Kathleen Horton. “We’ll be reaching out to raise the money necessary to provide our own specialized relief efforts, which are intended to benefit students who are attending the College. As with any initiative, our first priority is the health and well being of our students.”
STUDENTS HELPING STUDENTS – SUNY Canton Individual Studies Student Marquise Paillere (left) was left stranded in Port of Prince Haiti after the earthquakes. Her roommate, Management student Xiaoli Zhang, who goes by “Lilly” raised $200 to help Paillere get a bus to the Dominican Republic, and asked SUNY Canton to help fly her home. The SUNY Canton Foundation provided the airfare to get Paillere home and the two were reunited a day after classes began.
Some immediate needs will include purchasing textbooks and funding tuition for students whose families have been affected by the earthquake. Future and tentative goals potentially include sending the SUNY Canton Chapter of Habitat for Humanity to Haiti to aid in the rebuilding efforts. Several faculty and staff members at the College have already come forward to donate to the cause.
“We were initially asked to help a student return to her studies when she was left stranded in Haiti during the winter break,” noted Daniel J. Sweeney, Vice President of Student Affairs. “Through the Foundation, we were able to secure her a plane ticket back and she was able to rejoin her classes.”
SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy contributes to the SUNY Canton Haitian Relief Fund in the Richard W. Miller Campus Center.
To launch the campaign, and to aid in the creation of the SUNY Canton Haitian Relief Fund, students have begun collecting donations, according to the College’s Diversity and Orientation Director Lashawanda Ingram.
“Upon returning to SUNY Canton, students immediately began looking for ways to help,” she said. “The SUNY Canton Haitian Students Fund gives them the perfect opportunity to help their fellow students. We have already set up several collection points on campus and people have been wonderful in supporting our initial efforts.”
Ingram said that the students plan to set up donation points from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, at Kinney Drugs and Tops Market (formerly P&C Foods) in Canton.
The SUNY Canton College Association created ways for students to donate by using their Roo Express accounts, the College’s payment option linked to College identification cards. Students can swipe their cards at the Campus Center Store, or purchase a meal for victims while getting one themselves in Chaney Dining Center.
“Right now, we have about a dozen students that we know of with roots in Haiti,” noted SUNY Canton Director of Public Relations Randy B. Sieminski. “We are working to ease their transition back to College and looking to determine how we can best help them.”
For more information or to make a donation, contact the SUNY Canton Foundation at 315.386.7127, or email foundation@canton.edu.
Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7528.
SUNY Canton’s Civil Service Employees Union (CSEA) Local 603 has provided new energy efficient appliances for break rooms around campus.
