Stony Brook University’s Department of Athletics and its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee played host to a Youth Sports clinic. The event honors the accomplishments of female athletes and highlights the benefits of staying active.

Stony Brook Department of Athletics promoted the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle.

The Youth Sports Clinic was open to all girls and boys between the ages of 6 and 13. Nearly 50 children participated in a variety of fun-filled activities led by Stony Brook student athletes from the football, soccer and volleyball teams.

After being divided into smaller groups, the children rotated through the various sports stations including agility races and basketball instruction.

After the clinic, the children were invited to cheer on the women’s basketball team at an afternoon game.

The Distracted Driving Awareness program from Stony Brook University’s Center for Community Engagement and Leadership Development is presented to local high schools to show young drivers how to be safe on the road.

For inexperienced teenage drivers, being safe and responsible behind the wheel of a powerful automobile is challenging enough. Add in the distraction of texting or talking on a cell phone, and the potential for disaster increases exponentially.

A student attempts an obstacle course while using his phone in a timed challenge.

Funded through a 2014 State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship grant, the Distracted Driving Awareness program takes high school students on a two-day journey through different types of settings that may impair their ability to drive safely. 

Developed by Carlos Vidal, an associate professor in health sciences, the Distracted Driving Awareness program is managed through a team of healthcare professionals from the Stony Brook School of Health Technology and Management.

“Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at the rate of 55 mph, that’s the equivalent of covering the length of a football field blindfolded, according to the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration),” said Vidal.

Stony Brook has presented the program to more than 500 high school students in the Brentwood, Amityville, Wyandanch and William Floyd school districts.

The Stony Brook Stitchers donate hats, lap blankets, christening outfits, prayer shawls, memory pouches and baby caps to patients at Stony Brook University Hospital and the Long Island State Veterans Home.

More than 90 volunteers including Stony Brook University faculty, staff, students and members of the community have sewn, knitted and crocheted more than 3,200 items.

 The Stony Brook Stitchers create hand-made gifts of healing and hope.

The Stitchers get together weekly bringing their own sewing machines to make various items that bring warmth and healing. Melissa Shampine, Shakeera Thomas, and other members of the Stitchers meet in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit conference room on Friday evenings.

Maryann Russo has been buying or getting donations of wedding dresses and takes them apart to make christening outfits for the babies who get baptized by Sr. Lynn at  University Hospital.

A snoedel, which is a small doll, is the newest item that the Stony Brook Stitchers make for Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies.  The parent takes the snoedel home, washes it and sleeps with it to absorb their scent.  The snoedel is then placed in the incubator with the baby to emulate physical contact with the parent and a sense of bonding.