Acorns to Action, a student-run disaster relief organization at SUNY-ESF, is working to help people in countries around the western hemisphere after a year of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes.

When a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit central Mexico in September 2017, Paulina Casasola, a project leader and the Undergraduate Student Association representative for the group, said in an email she was moved to take action after witnessing the impact of the earthquake on her hometown of Mexico City.

Isabella Kaplan, Casasola’s friend and the president and spokesperson for Acorns to Action, said the organization chose to be a support group for those who felt helpless after recent natural disasters.

The group is providing relief to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Puerto Rico, other Caribbean islands and southeastern states in the U.S. The organization is also responding to the earthquake in Mexico, according to their webpage.

Seeing images of buildings and bridges collapsing made her fear for her friends and family, and the distance between them grew frustrating, Casasola said. Unable to physically volunteer on-site, Casasola said she was determined to find other ways to help.

The Acorns to Action group raised money and gathered needed supplies in innovative ways, Kaplan said. This spring, she said they plan to send the collected goods to Dominica and raise money that can be sent to local Mexican organizations that are rebuilding homes.

Mark Lichtenstein, SUNY-ESF’s executive director of sustainability, also helped form the organization. Lichtenstein held a meeting for students interested in disaster relief work soon after the earthquake, according to a SUNY-ESF press release.

That day, Kaplan, Casasola and Nathan Miller came together and decided on a name and mission statement for Acorns to Action, Kaplan said.

With their combined resources and knowledge, the group decided Acorns to Action would find ways to, “provide support, relief and help to ESF communities impacted by disasters in a way that is culturally appropriate as well as inclusive of their voice,” according to its website.

This fall, Acorns to Action partnered with local organizations such as CNY Project HOPE and Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel to coordinate fundraisers.

“Working with them has made everything run smoothly and has opened many doors for us as a new organization. We are very thankful for that,” Casasola said.

On Jan. 22, a few members of the group traveled to Albany for the State of the University System Address. Lichtenstein said he was proud that Acorns to Action were one of only five groups in the SUNY network to have an interactive display at the chancellor’s speech.

The Acorns to Action group will collaborate with the SU Outing Club, the Baobab Society and ESF Insomniac’s for their “Environmental Justice Around the World” event on Friday.

Casasol is currently organizing a volunteer construction management trip for this spring break, she added.

Published on January 29, 2018 at 11:14 pm