Families, friends, Stony Brook staff and alumni attended the annual Lighting of the Windmill celebration at Stony Brook Southampton on Friday, December 2.

The free community event marks the beginning of the holiday season for the community and campus.

All were invited to light up the holidays at the annual Windmill lighting.

The crowd enjoyed family-friendly activities such as creating balloon animals, hot cocoa and holidays treats and a photo booth. Guests were also invited to guided tours of the Windmill by SBU Faculty member Tara Riders’ History class.

This year a new entertainment feature was added. The “Ice Melodies” showcase gave the crowd a chance to watch an expert carver make a windmill out of a 300 lb. block of ice while listening to carolers from the Hamptons AARP sing holiday favorites. In addition, a new group of Southampton High School top musicians performed, and businesses from the Calverton Incubator shared information about their companies.

Following the festivities was a special staff lecture with Chris Paparo of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences entitled “From Plankton to Whales: Just a Few Reasons Why Our Local Waters Are Worth Protecting.

Learn more about Stony Brook Southampton: http://www.stonybrook.edu/southampton/

As Suffolk County’s highest level trauma center, Stony Brook Trauma Center is equipped to handle even the most difficult and serious life-threatening injuries.

But the Trauma Center is also involved in community outreach to help residents learn how to prevent injuries and deal with them when they happen.

Among our many prevention programs are the  Teddy Bear Clinics, a school-based initiative for kindergartners, which encourages car and helmet safety while giving students the opportunity to dress up like doctors and nurses and ‘take care’ of their stuffed animals.

Evidence-based Senior Fall Prevention educational programs, like Stepping On and Tai Chi, help seniors improve balance and remain independent and safe. Our Traffic Violators Program, a collaboration with the Suffolk County Police Department and Traffic and Parking Violation Agency, provides more than 50 adults per month, who have been ticketed for a moving violation, with information about the consequences of risky driving and techniques for behavior change.

In an effort to help the public cope with emergency situations, Stony Brook  offers  Basic First Responder Training, teaching life-saving skills including hands-only CPR, tourniquet making, and more at no cost to schools, community groups and companies.

Additional outreach efforts include Sports Safety Clinics, Teen Driving Initiatives, Safe Kids “Safety Games,” Parent Information Sessions and more are available FREE to organizations in our community.

Learn more: https://trauma.stonybrookmedicine.edu/injury-prevention/programs

Contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan caused a crisis for the people of the area.

To offer help, six students from the School of Social Welfare traveled overnight to Flint on the weekend of April 14 to aid in the distribution of bottled water to residents living with a lead polluted water supply.

School of Social Welfare students brought bottles of water to help the Flint community.

The team collaborated with organizations across Long Island to collect more than 10,000 bottles of water and additional supplies including baby wipes and hand sanitizer.

The students partnered with the Riverside Tabernacle in Flint, one of many organizations coordinating efforts to assist those in their community. Through fundraising efforts, $2,000 was collected and donated to  the Flint Child Health and Development Fund, specializing in child-focused health interventions for those diagnosed with lead poisoning.

The six students – Tiffany Hervas, Alaina Ingram, Taylor Zummo, Tira Skaggs, Lindsay McBeth and Stephanie Dick – assisted the residents and interviewed community leaders, gaining insights into the hardships and reality of a crisis that has been going on for a couple of years.

Learn more about the School of Social Welfare:https://socialwelfare.stonybrookmedicine.edu/