Last year, a campus-wide survey was sent out to determine what students need but have a hard time getting. This was the first survey sent out to help Cardinal Operation Hope and Help determine what they can to do to help NCC students.
Lisa Pettaway, Tatiana Sifri, Samantha Bennett, Dorothy Pleas, Jennifer Alexander, Kevin McCarthy, Brian Rainville and DuShaun Branch are the current committee members of Cardinal Operation Hope and Help. This organization began on Jan. 26, 2018.
“We all put our heads together and we just felt we were all seeing the need and… there is a lot of passion about wanting to help students because we keep seeing over and over what a barrier it is when they don’t have the funds for food, transportation, clothing or housing,” said Sifri, director of Dyson Wellness Center.
The four pillars of this organization are transportation needs, clothing needs, shelter and food. In order to receive help in any of these areas, students must apply. A committee reviews the application, a care-coordinator meets with the student and then members try to help the student accordingly. Cardinal Operation Hope and Help began accepting applications in the fall of 2018.
“Part of the Operation Hope and Help is to make it known that there is a need and that there are resources available and that there is no shame in it,” said Safri. “Everybody has situations in life and that’s what we see with students… there are so many reasons that people find themselves in a bad place and we want to get the message out that it’s okay, there are resources and everybody has a hard time at some point in their life.”
In addition to financial assistance, this organization also helps students by offering The Giving Box. This box contains toiletries, snacks and other essentials and is available to students on Wednesdays in the Res Life office in New Hall from 9 a.m. to noon as well as at the WAC front desk from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“I think students who have taken advantage of it are extremely thankful that it has helped them with food or bills that they may not be able to handle,” said Pettaway, director of the annual fund at NCC, which works to grow the College’s giving. “So I think the feedback from the students… has been great.”
Cardinal Operation Hope and Help is funded completely by donations. All money goes directly to students.
