Donation bins across the campus encourage students and staff to participate. Graphic by Ollie Fitzgerald.
GRACE CRONIN | STAFF REPORTER | gcronin@butler.edu
As the season of giving begins, student organizations and academic departments across campus have coordinated a series of food, hygiene and blood-donation drives throughout November. The drives span from Nov. 3-21, offering students, faculty and staff multiple ways to contribute to community needs.
The Black Student Union (BSU) is running a drive from Nov. 3-21, encouraging donations of non-perishable goods to help families around the Butler community. Donations can be dropped off in the BSU office inside the Efroymson Diversity Center (DC).
The History, Anthropology and Classics Department is also running a drive through Nov. 21 to benefit Second Helpings, a local hunger-relief nonprofit. High-need items include canned proteins, peanut butter, vegetables and rice. Students can bring donations to Jordan Hall, room 349. The MFA program, English Department and Visiting Writers Series also held a separate food drive from Nov. 11-18 to benefit the Butler Food Pantry.
Molly Nebiolo, an assistant professor of history and one of the organizers for the Second Helpings drive, explained her reasoning for beginning it.
“I’ve been depressed about the government shutdown and how it has been impacting SNAP benefits, so I wanted to do something that could help the community,” Nebiolo said. “I noticed how easy it was to set up a food drive that could support Second Helpings and thought it might be nice to have a food drive that students, faculty, and staff could donate towards.”
Outside of food collection, the Students of Color Allied in Healthcare (SOCAH) and other DC groups are running a hygiene drive from Nov. 5-19. Items collected included hygiene, skincare, dental care and feminine products.
Blood donation efforts also took place throughout the month. BSU and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) collaborated on a blood drive with Versiti on Monday, Nov. 17. Students who donated received a Butler shirt and were entered into a college sweepstakes. The Lacy School of Business also partnered with Versiti on Nov. 18 in a campus-wide blood drive through the Bloodmobile provided by Versiti.
In addition to blood donation, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences‘ Nursing Program partnered with DKMS for a stem-cell donor registration and cheek-swab event on Nov. 18. Participants had the chance to join the global registry for blood-cancer patients in need of lifesaving matches.
Sophomore nursing major Kennedy Lee was one of the students who helped students swab and register.
“We’re collecting samples of people’s cheek cells for stem cell, blood cancer and bone marrow treatments,” Lee said. “The data from [the samples are] put in a database and matched to somebody who could use them. It’s just a really simple, easy way to impact somebody’s life.”
With several drives still accepting donations through the end of the week, students, faculty and staff have ongoing opportunities to support both campus and local communities.
“I hope students can feel like they can always make a positive difference in their community,” Nebiolo said. “They can always buy a box of pasta or rice or canned goods from [A-Town Market] and donate them to a local food pantry. Everyone has the power to support and improve the lives of those around us.”
