Students spearhead hurricane relief effort

PLATTSBURGH | Two SUNY Plattsburgh students are teaming up with Centers Health Care to collect money and supplies for Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

Andre Grady of Tau Kappa Epsilon and Amanda Cuomo of Theta Phi Alpha are planning to set up a collection booth outside of the Angell College Center on campus on Nov. 9 from 11 am. to 1 p.m.

Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, leaving scores dead and much of the U.S. territory without power.

Though he has no personal connection to Puerto Rico, after hearing of the devastation, Grady decided to get involved.

He did some research and came across the Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, a program kickstarted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo following his first visit to the island in September.

“There’s a relief effort underway,” Grady said. “There are points set up throughout the state to collect money for Puerto Rico.

“I noticed that there were none set up in the area.”

The two students, alongside representatives from Centers Health Care, a New York-City based nursing facility with locations in Elizabethtown and Queensbury, are accepting financial donations along with donations of paper towels, water, canned foods and other nonperishables. 

Once donations are collected in Plattsburgh, Grady said, they’ll be shipped off to Albany before being sent out to Puerto Rico.

“I thought this was an excellent opportunity to help out,” he said.

For more information about the ongoing hurricane relief efforts in New York state, visit ny.gov/programs/empire-state-relief-and-recovery-effort-puerto-rico-and-us-virgin-islands.