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Every year, Pittsburg State students and student organizations host a variety of community service projects. One such project this year is the Altruistic Alliance of University Women (AAUW) collecting donations for George Nettels Elementary students.
There are two collection boxes on campus. One is in the Campus Activities Center and the Student Center and the other is in the Office of Student Diversity in Horace Mann. They will be collecting donations until Oct. 2.
“When we thought of the idea for a school drive, we reached out to Diane Jackson who is the principal at George Nettels Elementary School and she specified that they are in need of school boxes, markers, erasers, scissors, (and) Lysol/Clorox wipes,” said Valeria Estrada, president and one of the founding members of AAUW and senior in biology. “They were also in need of size 6-8 and 10-12 boys’ clothes, girls’ sweats or leggings, and children’s underwear for their clothing closet… We are accepting donations of any school related items.”
Estrada hopes to help provide children with the necessary school supplies while also abiding by the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
“We know that there are a lot of families in Crawford County who live below the poverty line and are really struggling to provide their children with school supplies,” Estrada said. “This often means that the schools have to provide the supplies, or those students go without, especially right now when children can’t share supplies due to COVID-19. As an organization whose main goal is service to this community, we believe that this event will allow us to help those students while still complying with current COVID-19 safety measures.”
George Nettels is especially important to AAUW.
“AAUW is one of the organizations under the Office of Student Diversity which has partnered with George Nettels Elementary in the past to hold lessons on diversity,” Estrada said. “Some of our members have participated in those events which is why it was important for us to help George Nettels because they’ve always been welcoming, and we’ve met their students.”
In addition to providing supplies for students at George Nettels, Estrada hopes the event encourages the community to donate.
“I believe that community service establishes a sense of trust within the community and it shows that there’s a variety of resources anyone can use and reach out to for help,” Estrada said. “Having events like these are important because most people want to help their community and it makes it easier for them because they don’t have to organize an event.”
Event plans were changed for most student organizations due to COVID-19 including the AAUW.
“We would like to hold other school supply drives, just not in this semester in order to have a variety of community service events,” Estrada said. “Like many of the organizations on campus, a lot of the events we had planned need to be reworked so that we are complying with safety guidelines. We will be announcing events on our Instagram (@psu_altruisticalliance)…”
To get involved on campus and participate in community service events with AAUW, contact them through Gorilla Engage.
“If you would like to join us, please reach out to us on Gorilla Engage,” Estrada said. “We are also going to be having a Save the USPS basket raffle in the month of October so be on the lookout for more information on that.”