The holidays can be a stressful time for  hospital patients and their families.

Thanks to a program called  Adopt-A-Family and the ‘elves’ at Stony Brook, cancer patients are granted some wishes to help make the season bright.

Stony Brook ‘elves’ (L to R) Maryellen Bestenheider, Mary Alice Plant and Michele Hass help make the season bright for some cancer patients and their families.

For the past five years, the Stony Brook Cancer Center has lead the charge for a coordinated effort with the University, Stony Brook University hospital, local schools and churches as well as business and community members to seek out cancer patients in need of holiday cheer.

One group received a family of five to adopt – husband, wife and three children. “They not only bought everything on the wish list, they asked if they could buy additional bicycles for the 2 children who did not request one and went so far as to put training wheels on the bicycle for the 4 year old,” said Kathleen Green, Adopt-A-Family coordinator from the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Other offices involved in the gift giving program includeSponsored Programs, Grants Management, Research Compliance, Technology Licensing and Industrial Relations and Information Systems.

A cancer patient is chosen to be ‘adopted’ based on nominations from the clinical staff, support staff and social workers at Stony Brook Cancer Center. They consider not just financial need, but other factors such as the loss of a spouse or the inability to work during treatment.

When it comes to staying healthy, early detection of problems is often the key to solving medical issues.

Stony Brook Medicine offers a variety of free health screenings for the community to check symptoms before they become big concerns.

Neighbors takes a break for a blood pressure check through Stony Brook Medicine’s outreach at Smith Haven Mall.

Stony Brook health care professionals provide a wide variety of screenings at health fairs and community events throughout Suffolk County. They go out into the community to make a health check easy and convenient. By helping individuals and organizations gain access to services at Stony Brook Medicine, friends and neighbors can live healthier lives.

Some of the screenings look at blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels which can often reveal early warning signs for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

In addition, screenings for prostate cancer, glaucoma, vascular disease, memory loss, anxiety, osteoporosis, and more are offered on at various times from Stony Brook Medicine.

Other ways of reaching the community for health promotion and disease prevention are lectures and workshops offered at locations around the community.

For 10 years, the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) has hosted the “College 101: A Day at Stony Brook”  program, offering students from challenged backgrounds an opportunity to view college life.

This year, the members and former members of the SAAB fraternity brought 31 students from the High School of Public Service in Brooklyn to campus.

High school students from Brooklyn visited the Stony Brook campus to learn about the college experience.

The volunteers from SAAB see the importance of helping others just as someone  once helped them.

The event is a program coordinated by The Association for the Social Advancement of People (ASAP), a non-profit organization. The focus of ASAP is to teach financial literacy and social responsibility to high school students, particularly males, who reside in financially underprivileged communities.

A student panel made up of campus leaders from SAAB, the EOP Student Association and Sigma Lambda Upsilon Sorority shared tips on how to prepare for the college application process. They also presented ways to balance academics and social responsibilities and finding a major that matches their passions and goals.

The program was held at the Charles B. Wang Center on campus. The students enjoyed a breakfast while listening to a guest speaker before splitting up into two groups at attend information sessions led by the Financial Aid Office and EOP/AIM Admissions.

The visit ended with a campus tour down the Academic Mall and the Campus Recreation Center.