If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything it is that our students are amazingly resilient. In defiance of all the difficulties they have faced, the Class of 2020 has chosen to rise up and continue to make a positive impact on the world.


Pano Sourlis (left) and Vincent DeStefano (right) with donations from local school districts that they delivered to the Wang Center for Stony Brook University Hospital’s frontline workers.

Graduating Seawolves Pano Sourlis and Vincent DeStefano were among those determined to find a way to help others, even as they overcame the challenges of navigating distance learning.

When the call went out from Stony Brook University of the need for PPE donations in mid-March, Sourlis and DeStefano rallied local school districts for donations and collected hundreds of cases of masks, gloves, gowns, wipes, shields, and more. The two friends were among the first to deliver the much-needed equipment to help protect frontline doctors and nurses at Stony Brook University Hospital during the peak of the pandemic.

The engineering students reached out to more than 15 districts to encourage them to donate their excess PPE to help frontline workers. This led many districts to donate their supplies on their own, including nearby Comsewogue and Port Jefferson.

DeStefano and Sourlis also facilitated in the physical donation of supplies by driving across the county to collect donations from multiple school districts, including Commack, Kings Park, Smithtown, and Patchogue-Medford, ensuring the safe delivery of the supplies to Stony Brook.

Read the full story: Graduating Seawolves Rally to Help Frontline Fighters | | SBU News