On Tuesday, November 21, 2017 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm in the Student Activities Center (SAC) Ballroom B, a “Dance for Puerto Rico” fundraiser was held.

Daniel Rodriguez, a transfer student,  approached the Office of the Dean of Students with the idea for a Salsa dance fundraiser where the proceeds would go to help the thousands of people suffering in the wake of weather disasters in Puerto Rico.

Participants learn how to dance Salsa. 

In conjunction with the Hispanic Languages and Literature Departments​, and the assistance of Professor Aurelie Vialette in particular,  ​t​he event was a complete success.

Over 30 participants raised $600 dollars which was donated to Puerto Rico via Casa Pueblo: http://casapueblo.org. This organization is working to energize homes in Puerto Rico.

For more information on other Stony Brook related Disaster Relief efforts visit: http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/disaster-relief/

Stony Brook University School of Medicine student David Elkin brought MagicAid , a program he founded 10 years ago, to Stony Brook’s Children Hospital.

The program’s mission is to relieve patients from some of their health worries by showing  and teaching them magic.

SB MagicAid Team 

Weekly, or when his rotation schedule permits, David volunteers his time and can be found on the Pediatric units of the hospital, providing magic therapy and putting huge smiles on Stony Brook’s youngest patients.

“Magic can make the impossible to become possible,” said Elkin. “Providing magic therapy to children helps suspend their disbelief, and provides them with hope. Magic can help them believe that they can get through whatever medical challenge they are going through at the time.”

David has enlisted several fellow medical students to follow in his footsteps. MagicAid has taken off, and now there are nearly 50 “magic therapists” working with Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

Read more: http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/medical/2017-02-13-med-student-brings-magic-to-patients.php

Students from the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), Residential Safety Program (RSP) and the Department of Campus Recreation loaded 83 unclaimed bicycles onto a truck provided by the charity organization Pedals for Progress on November 1, 2017.

The bikes, which represent a substantial increase over last year’s successful inaugural event , were donated to Pedals for Progress and are then transported to developing countries around the world that use them as their primary mode of transportation.

Bikes getting ready to be loaded. 

In recent years, University Police began to notice an increase in the number of abandoned bicycles left on campus. This phenomenon gave rise to Stony Brook’s Bicycle Registration Program wherein student residents can register their bikes through Residential Risk Management.

Funds were raised by a collaborative effort from Residential Risk Management, Campus Recreation, SHAC and the Division of Student Health, Wellness and Prevention Services to cover the cost of shipping the bicycles.

“Personally, it is really nice to see all of the abandoned bikes go to someone in need, whose life can be changed as a result, especially when the majority of bikes just sat in storage unclaimed,” said event co-coordinator Alyssa Fallon, a senior English major and Safety Assistant for Risk Management.

Read more: http://www.stonybrook.edu/happenings/homespotlight/bikes-hit-the-road-for-developing-countries/