Project Sunshine has partnered with the Faculty Student Association (FSA) to organize and host a fun and interactive event to help children at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. On Wednesday, December 1, students joined together to make holiday cards for pediatric patients. The event included performances by Stony Brook Vocalists and complimentary hot cocoa provided by FSA.

Students of Project Sunshine. 

Project Sunshine is a nonprofit organization with chapters on college campuses across the country. Their mission is to provide free social, educational, and recreational programming for children and their families as they face medical challenges. Stony Brook University’s chapter is dedicated to volunteering weekly at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, as well as leading initiatives on campus in support of the children and families there. They seek to restore a sense of normalcy to the pediatric healthcare environment and spread cheer to the children undergoing treatment.

Project Sunshine holds many other fundraising events throughout the year. These include their annual Masquerade ball in February, the recent Tie-Dye fundraiser, plant sales, and benefit shows, among others. Sending Sunshines are hosted monthly so that craft kits can be put together and sent out to pediatric patients nationwide.

For over 50 years, Stony Brook has provided New York’s high-potential but underserved students the opportunity to attend the state’s top public university through the Educational Opportunity Program/Advancement on Individual Merit (EOP/AIM) Program. Through a combination of state, campus and philanthropic financial support and a proven program of academic advising, tutoring and mentorship, the program has been tremendously successful at removing barriers that stand in the way of student success.

Jeffrey and Maureen Fox meeting with EOP/AIM students (left to right) Anthony Machuca ‘22, Sara Villaman ’22 and Erica Ayisi-Boahene ‘23.

Still, even at one of the nation’s most affordable public universities and after aid provided by the state, students often face one final obstacle: a $2,796 gap. The financial stress of that gap is a heavy burden with far-reaching consequences. Financial constraints mean students struggle to afford even basic course materials and must forgo valuable experiences that would help them compete for internships, graduate school and jobs.

For Stony Brook Class of ’73 alumni Jeffrey Fox and Maureen Fox, the gap and related obstacles are a major concern — and one that is all too familiar. As an undergraduate student, Maureen Fox faced a similar struggle: She relied on a combination of scholarships, grants and loans, yet she still couldn’t afford to purchase her books.

The Jeffrey R. and Maureen L. Fox Fund for Education Opportunity helps students fill that financial gap. The Fund also provides critical assistance with books, supplies and other expenses such as study abroad opportunities, graduate school applications and testing preparation costs, professional and experiential learning opportunities and food and housing insecurities.

We wanted to do something that would benefit society in a very significant way,” Jeffrey Fox says. “We can’t think of a better place for that than at Stony Brook. And someday, maybe some of the students in the program will do what we’re doing and give back to Stony Brook.

Read the full story: https://news.stonybrook.edu/alumni/helping-close-the-opportunity-gap/

The new and improved Sensory Room in the Student Accessibility Support Center (SASC) is now featuring student artwork from art students in Professor Nobuho Nagasawa’s ARS 205 (Ideas and Form Section L04) and ARS 403 (Socially Engaged Art) classes.

Students explore art pieces as part of the  Sensory Room exhibit. 

The Sensory Room is located in the Stony Brook Union, Suite 107, and it is designed to help students who need to receive or exclude sensory input and help them relax and soothe their senses. Inspired by the Sensory Room, Nagasawa’s students created art installations that expressed their individual take on the senses and how their art may best soothe the participants.

“SASC contacted the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art regarding having students create a sensory art experience for students utilizing the Sensory Room, and we had several meetings with professor Nagasawa and the students to discuss the collaboration” described SASC Director Wendi Mathews. With the guidance of Nagasawa and the SASC staff, each student was asked to think of how best to engage the viewers’ senses with their art using different media to create olfactory, tactile, kinetic, auditory and visual forms of expression.

Sensory art therapy is a type of treatment that uses all kinds of art to explore emotions, resolve psychological conflicts, reduce anxiety, as well as decrease physical pain. “We were very excited about the Sensory Art Showcase. The goal was to create an artwork that would encourage students to use a variety forms of art to assist in their coping as well as highlight these talented artists and be able to use their art for years to come in the Student Accessibility Support Center’s Sensory Room” said Mathews.

Read the full story: https://news.stonybrook.edu/university/art-for-the-senses-sensory-art-show-features-student-artwork/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=art-for-the-senses-sensory-art-show-features-student-artwork