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Syracuse University’s Student Association will host its Fall Into Action event from Wednesday to Sunday, creating opportunities for students to engage with the surrounding Syracuse community through charitable work.

The event will consist of a jar-filling event with SUNY-ESF’s chapter of Alpha Xi Sigma on Wednesday, an Oakwood Cemetery cleanup on Saturday and the “Trick or Eat” food drive on Thursday and Sunday in collaboration with the New York Public Interest Research Group.

The jars will be filled with ingredients and sent to Beth’s Bounty, ESF’s on-campus food pantry, and the food drive will consist of collecting food to donate to local food pantries, SA President William Treloar said. The jar-making will be at 6 p.m. in ESF’s Gateway Center.

Treloar said he hopes the event will attract many student participants.

“We will be prepping easy-to-make jars to be donated to the Beth’s Bounty Food Pantry, and all excess will be donated to the food pantry,” Treloar said.

Those participating in the cemetery cleanup will meet at Oakwood Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The food drive will run from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday, Eden Gardner, chair of community engagement and government affairs, said.

In addition to Fall Into Action, SA is planning advocacy initiatives for the remainder of the semester, including distributing sexual violence prevention kits, implementing sustainability policies and hosting a series event called Donuts with the Dean. The School of Engineering and Computer Science will hold its Donuts with the Dean event Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. in Link Hall Room 152.

SA will continue to work toward its plastic phaseout goal – which aims to gradually reduce single-use plastics on campus. SA’s Speaker of the Assembly Anna Ginelli said SA is trying to implement an initiative to avoid single-use plastics in its purchasing bill, which is being led by Gardner and Olivia Curreri, vice president of university affairs.

Ginelli said SA has made about 500 sexual violence prevention kits, which include drink covers, a portable door lock, drink testers and a Birdie personal safety alarm. While SA has so far distributed the kits by “word of mouth,” Ginelli said members hope to distribute the kits to more students by tabling.

She said the Donuts with the Dean initiative also seeks to advocate for students by giving students a one-on-one experience with the deans of their schools.

“It’s just a really great opportunity to have (a) more personal connection with the Dean, and also for the Dean to gather some insight on the student experience for each of their respective schools,” Ginelli said.

SA has also filled new positions in the past few weeks, including seats on its Supreme Court, Board of Finance and Board of Elections, Treloar said. Ginelli said this will distribute respective responsibilities to each member, therefore enhancing representation and bringing fresh ideas for SA.

“We have very obvious advocacy goals as a student government, but it’s also important to think about, ‘What is each student going to get out of this experience?’” Ginelli said.

Published on November 5, 2023 at 8:58 pm

Contact Roxanne: rmboychu@syr.edu