The Pre-Health Professions Club and the Nexus Center for Applied Learning and Career Development, spread some joy this holiday season by hosting a Toy Drive. "It was so great to see our student volunteers come together to put together this drive. They all advertised it, created marketing materials, monitored the boxes, and wrapped all the toys. With the stress of finals and exams, the amount of time these students put towards this drive just amazes me", says Ashley Perrone Applied Learning Counselor in the Nexus Center for Applied Learning and Career Development.
Pre-Health Professionals club President Holdy Chauvette, a senior in Mechanical Engineering Technology and club member, Manpreet Rattu a senior in Bioscience started the Toy Drive in hopes of bringing a little holiday cheer to a community in need.
All donations were given to the New Birth Christian Church in West Babylon.“New Birth Christian Church is a local church, and we felt that our local community would benefit from the donations since things have been tough for families since the start of the pandemic", says Rattu.
The Toy Drive was such a success, the members were also able to donate gifts to a non-profit organization called Lighthouse Missions, located in Bellport. "They are collecting toys to provide for the community", says Perrone. Talk about spreading holiday cheer.
Both Holdy and Rattu will earn FSC Student Leaders Community Engagement Scholarship Awards in the amount of $1,000 each funded by the Nexus Center for their efforts to lead this campaign, which included enlisting 35 other students in community service. All students will earn Applied Learning Graduation Credit for their community service efforts, which included coordinating and promoting the toy drive, wrapping the donations and delivering the donations.
The Farmingdale State College Nexus Center is offering scholarship awards to Student Leaders who take the initiative to lead Applied Learning (AL) community engagement activities. To learn more about these scholarship opportunities, visit our website.
