Thursday, May 14, 2009

F&M students help city woman in need

Below is a story of the college and community working together to help a Lancaster city resident rebuild her house. What connects this story to the Library is that two librarians were involved, Scott Vine and Andy Gulati. Hopefully by blogging the video and newspaper article, the event will be captured (forever!).

Fox43 story from May 14.

(Fox video was removed, but you can view this short Youtube clip to get an idea of work performed. And pictures can be found here.)



Lancaster Newspapers story from May 13.

By BERNARD HARRIS, Staff Writer

After rebuilding flood-ravaged homes in New Orleans and Galveston, Texas, Franklin & Marshall College students this week are tackling relief work closer to home, or at least closer to their dorms.

Students of the college's Catastrophic Relief Alliance and faculty mentors are helping to renovate a home in Lancaster City's southeast area.

"You go on these trips and you see so much destruction, but you never realize that there is so much need in your own backyard," said Grace Gallagher, president of the student disaster relief organization.

Gallagher and three fellow students were working this morning to repair a water-damaged wall at the home of Betty Jones, 222 S. Ann St.

On Monday they began hauling out debris from a first-floor apartment. By the end of the week, they hope to have the space ready to house Jones' elderly and blind mother.

"When you have so much happen to you, you just freeze," Andy Gulati, a college librarian and the student group adviser, said of Jones.

Jones, who recently had a knee replaced, lost her father, sister and a brother in the past few years, said neighbor Darlene Byrd, who helped direct the students to her.

Gulati said the student group was formed in early 2006, a few months after Hurricane Katrina had ripped through the Gulf of Mexico. After an initial two-week trip to Picayune, Miss., the group has gone twice to New Orleans and once to Galveston to help with rebuilding efforts.

But Gulati said the group also has been looking for ways to help people closer to home.

His heating oil dealer, the East King Street Improvement District and Byrd sent him to Jones to offer student help with home repairs.

The oil dealer, Conquistador Oil Heating & Air Conditioning, is splitting the cost of roof and gutter repair with the student group.

The business and F&M students also are splitting the cost of materials for an electrician, Macias Home Improvement, to upgrade the electrical service and wiring in that part of the house. Macias is donating the labor. York Waste Disposal is contributing the use of a trash bin.

Through arrangements by Byrd, the nearby Ray's Temple Church is organizing meals for the students. They will have food from Venezuela and Belize and African-American soul food prepared by residents of the multi-ethnic neighborhood.

The F&M students and the neighborhood's South Ann Concerned Neighbors group hope to keep the relationship going with later projects.

"It seems like this will be good for the college and the community," said Winston Bowen, 20, of Norristown.

And this, from our college web'zine, The Diplomat, June 25

Bringing Relief Closer to Home

Franklin & Marshall’s Catastrophic Relief Alliance (CRA) has brought willing workers to help in recovery efforts in destinations such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Out of a desire to respond to the crises of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, student, faculty and staff volunteers have helped to rebuild homes in storm-damaged regions since 2005.

Now, the CRA is setting its sights on providing aid closer to campus, said adviser Andy Gulati, systems librarian and senior assistant librarian. “I had been thinking about having our group work locally, so we quickly aligned with the South Ann Concerned Neighbors organization and got involved.”

The CRA devoted five days in mid-May to helping a Lancaster resident make her home suitable for an aging family member and is currently seeking other worthy nearby projects. “We want to help our college neighbors,” said Gulati, pointing out that national crises may be the ones that grab the headlines, but smaller crises also deserve attention.

Anyone who would like to contribute financial support or supplies to the CRA is invited to contact Sandi Smoker at the Ware Institute for Civic Engagement.

Friday, May 08, 2009

another 24/7

A few pics from another non-stop Library season



circ desk is a beehive of activity



overload



Rachel Martin was at the Library EVERY single day, for four years, it's true



Naomita is under suspicion



mousetrap



making good use of the microform room



beach blanket bingo, and coffee



this might end poorly



she used ALL those books!



Jenna is stressed



fishbowl



Nicole turned an art paper from a pamphlet into a book



smoking 30 feet from the entrance



Computer, coffee, bed, pillow, ventilation - what more could you want?



melts in your mouth, not on your Library books



lobby living room



second level sliver



Rachel multitasks - research, makeup bag and Powerbars



over & out