SUNY Geneseo 2017 Volunteer Service and Awards Dinner

Aiofe Andrews, Melissa Belsky, Maidot Gizaw, and Leinni Mejia were honored for coordinating two projects: Health Packs for Migrant Farm Workers and Sharing a Blanket on Thanksgiving Day in 2016. Both projects were developed by Geneseo Migrant Center Medical Office and the SUNY Geneseo Center for Languages and Cultures (CLC).  In the spring, the Geneseo Migrant Center received 49 adult bags filled with hygiene and safety items to be distributed at medical outreach visits and ten new mother bags that contained clothes, blankets and other items for newborns. In the fall, at the Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, the Geneseo Migrant Center distributed a large amount of new winter clothing and 70 new blankets. The Migrant Center was also presented with a check for $434 to buy flashlights and batteries for Christmas baskets.

Professor Elizabeth Silvaggio-Adams was recognized for her volunteer work since 2009 at the New York Museum of Transportation in Rush. Since 2010 she has been a Cub Scout committee member and volunteer for a local Boy Scout troop. At SUNY Geneseo, she is the faculty advisor for Common Hope, an organization that supports educational programs for children in Guatemala. She and Professor Rocío Vallejo created a Spanish textbook series in their "free time". The proceeds from the sale of the textbook support two Spanish language scholarships in the Languages and Literatures Department.