ALFRED — Alfred State University’s relief team, including nine students and three staff members, helped the community continue cleanup from Hurricane Ian during the week before Christmas.
The team traveled to Fort Myers, Florida in partnership with the All Hands & Hearts organization. Departing on December 17, she assisted in clearing debris left over from a Category 4 storm that hit the west coast of Florida in late September.
Past family experiences made Karina Seeley of Harpersville, County Bloom want to be on the trip.
“When I was young, Hurricane Sandy hit my home area, but it was the help of my family and community that made it easy to rebuild my cousin’s house.” It was very self-fulfilling.”
Alyssa Burdick of Valley Falls, Rensselaer County said everyone on the trip was assigned different duties and responsibilities.
“Tasks ranged from taking a shower out of a bathroom; removing staples from a wooden structure for six hours; collecting homeowners’ belongings; mobile washing machines; I might even do it,” she said. “We all left this journey knowing how to do things we never knew how to do before. ”
The team also includes Batavia’s Nicole Hume, Holly’s Ethan Kuhn, Ozone Park’s Alimat Akambi, Wilson’s Dylan Guy, Farmington’s Alex Comara, Canandaigua’s Emma Smithers and Genesee’s Maddox Windus. It was
ASC Chancellor Dr. Stephen Mauro, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Greg Sammons, and Assistant Director of Health and Wellness Daniel Woolston joined the students on the trip.
“I’ve done a dozen trips like this during my higher education,” Seeley said. “I can confidently say that this group of students was the most hard-working and inclusive group I have ever led. They came together as a team and really made a difference. couldn’t.”
The team returned home on December 22, and Burdick knows the work has paid off.
“I really felt like I made an impact on people’s lives,” she said. “When disaster strikes, people like the ones I’m glad to meet through All Hands and Hearts don’t hesitate to get on their plates and take their shirts off their backs if it means helping others.” These people have inspired me to do a better job in my community and I hope to have the opportunity to work with them in the future.”
All Hands and Hearts is an organization committed to effectively and efficiently addressing the immediate and long-term needs of disaster-affected global communities. The organization arrives early for first responders and stays late to rebuild schools and homes in a disaster-resilient manner.
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