On Friday, December 3, musicians from the Stony Brook Department of Music caroled throughout the Children’s Hospital, spreading holiday cheer and joy to the children, families and staff. The Staller Center’s Instrument Petting Zoo is a program that helps the Staller Center for the Arts reach out to the community and share live interactive musical experiences. This program helps inspire an appreciation of music and instruments for young people.

Stony Brook Music Department musicians spread joy to a mother and child at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

“To be able to spend time at the Children’s Hospital and see the smiles on the kids faces and the tears of joy in the parents eyes as the musicians performed holiday music was emotional, but we’re so happy we were able to come together and collaborate in this way,” said Staller Center’s Outreach Director Paul Newland. “We are grateful to Island Federal who helped provide the support for this initiative, and we’re already planning more musical visits.”

Read the full story:  https://news.stonybrook.edu/homespotlight/staller-centers-instrument-petting-zoo-spreads-holiday-cheer-at-sb-childrens-hospital/?spotlight=5

More than 200 Stony Brook University administrators, faculty, staff and students participated in the May 5 virtual event, “Breaking Silence: A Public Forum on Anti-AAPI Racism.”

The forum was held in response to the escalating violence, discrimination and harassment directed at Asians and Asian Americans, and in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.

President Maurie McInnis opened the forum, saying, “I know that it is incredibly important that we take the time, not just this month, but year-round to talk about the pressures and prejudices that the AAPI community faces, and importantly, how we at Stony Brook University can respond to and support our colleagues and friends. We at Stony Brook are committed to ensuring that this university is always a place where the members of the AAPI community are supported, protected, and listened to.”

Forum participants spoke to denounce the scapegoating of Asian Americans for national crises, examined systemic racism against Asians and other minority groups in United States history, and promoted building anti-racist allyship.

Other faculty members who spoke to the history and effects of discrimination against Asian Americans included: James Mimura, Department of History; Crystal Fleming, Departments of Sociology and African Studies; Lori Flores, Department of History, and Charles Robbins, director of the Center for Changing Systems of Power. Student speakers included Judy Le and Khadija Saad.

An open discussion was held among the participants, moderated by He and Heejeong Song, director of the Program in Korean Studies. Various on-campus and other resources were posted, questions were asked, personal experiences were shared and solutions proposed.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, the Center for Korean Studies, the Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication, the Japan Center at Stony Brook and the Mattoo Center for India Studies. The event was also co-sponsored by the Asian American Center Bridge, the Center for Changing Systems of Power, the Charles B. Wang Center, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Globalization Studies, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Read the full story: https://news.stonybrook.edu/university/sbu-community-joins-together-for-anti-aapi-racism-forum/

Although Long Island has yet to see any winter snow, the halls of Stony Brook Children’s Hospital have seen some impressive snowballs! To kick off the holiday season, the Stony Brook Stitchers created more than 50 handmade snowball plush toys, bringing fun and a touch of whimsy to the patients at Children’s Hospital.

More than 50 plush snowballs were made for patients at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

Stony Brook Stitchers sewing projects coordinator, Gail Braverman, and member Carmela Fuoco, volunteered their time to create these toys so the patients at Children’s Hospital may participate in “snowball fights” with hospital staff.

Founded in December of 2008, the Stony Brook Stitchers group has branches based on each side of campus.  Melissa Shampine, of the Nursing Division, Cardiac Services, heads up the volunteers on the hospital side of Stony Brook and Jan Tassie, of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services, serves as the team leader for the university side. The group has gathered staff, faculty, students and community members who share a passion for creating hand-made items in order to serve the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of patients at Stony Brook University Hospital.

The group currently has close to 300 volunteers and averages approximately 3,200 donations per year of assorted items including lap blankets, prayer shawls, preemie and newborn hats, quilts, pediatric surgical caps, infant demise wraps, memory pouches and other items. In 2019 alone, Stony Brook Stitchers donated 4,082 items. At the onset of the  COVID-19 crisis, their volunteers answered the call to make masks for hospital staff and patients who were using an unusually large amount of PPE. The Stony Brook Stitchers worked closely with Kathleen Kress from Volunteer Services; Paul Ryan and Tony D’Andraia of the Linen Department and so many others.

For more information on the Stony Brook Stitchers, visit their website, http://www.stonybrookstitchers.com/.