SUUSA in Service: Campus Drive to assist Refugees

SUU’s student service groups are asking their peers, their professors and community members to extend a welcome hand to the state’s nearly 1500 refugees who seek sanctuary in Utah annually, fleeing homelands rife with war, famine or political unrest. Over the next week, students will be collecting donations for hygiene, first aid and infant kits to be distributed among Utah’s refugees.

Of the inspiration behind this project, SUUSA club director and organizer of this campus-wide service initiative, senior sociology major Sarah Webber, explained, “Refugees are in great need when they enter the state with almost nothing. This is a new start."

She continued, "For us students, this is an opportunity to have a global impact on those less fortunate. By supporting those in our community we are building solidarity and a community that cares, which is a really strong force.”

Partnering with the Utah Refugee Services Offices, and working with SUU’s student clubs, SUUSA will host the drive January 22 through 23, with the goal of creating 300 kits to help make these new Utahans feel at home. Donations will be collected in the SUUSA Office in the Student Center now through Tuesday. The kits will then be assembled, with the help of all willing campus volunteers, in the Student Center Living Room on Wednesday afternoon from noon to 3 p.m.

“This isn’t your typical student activity,” said Webber. The student clubs organization generally focuses on activities for students to bring them together in recreation and entertainment. “As students, we shouldn’t just be at school to better ourselves, but to also better those around us.”

The following items are needed by donation to build SUUSA’s targeted 300 refugee kits.

Infant Kit:

• Receiving blankets
• Small sleepers
• Undershirts
• Small hats
• Burp cloths

Hygiene Kit:

• Shampoo
• Soap
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
• Dental supplies

First-aid Kit:

• Band-Aids
• First-aid creams
• Cleaning agents
• Pain medication
• Triangle Bandages