Author name: jmcpsiu

Lars Delin, Xi ’22 (Wesleyan) worked with other undergraduates at Wesleyan to co-found  Support A Pal to socially support senior citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic. This non-profit venture pairs college students with members of the non-residential Dyckman Senior Center in the Bronx, NY, to facilitate weekly phone conversations in lieu of in-person interaction. Currently, there are 20 volunteers – primarily from Wesleyan University – who speak English, Spanish, or Mandarin, and they are seeking to expand in number and linguistic capabilities. 

Support A Pal was inspired by the lack of accommodations for senior citizens, as these at-risk individuals often struggle with social media communication and tech savviness. However, this endeavour has proven to be beneficial for both sides of the partnership. Volunteers have expressed excitement over shared interests, such as the genius of Billy Joel, and realized how much they can learn from the generations before them.

We first learned about his efforts from this article; http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2020/05/04/students-form-connections-with-senior-citizens-isolated-by-pandemic/?utm_source=&utm_medium=EMLET&utm_campaign=The+Wesleyan+Connection+May+6(2068360

Psi Upsilon service to society and civic engagement on display; Bluebird Distilling (owned by a Psi U) switched to formulating hand sanitizer in late March to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jared Adkins, Sigma Phi ‘08 (St. Francis University), has owned and operated Bluebird Distilling in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania since 2015 (they have since opened locations Center City and Old City as well). In addition to owning Bluebird Distilling, Jared is a founder of the Sigma Phi chapter.

Bluebird Distilling produces award-winning spirits in a variety of categories, with the rye, bourbon, and brandy being particularly well regarded. After seeing the need for hand sanitizer in their community in mid-March, Bluebird has completely retooled operations to produce gallons of World Health Organization recommended formula hand sanitizer, adding peroxide and glycerine to their distilled alcohol. They’ve produced over 1000 gallons, mostly packaged in 5 gallon containers (individual containers are hard to come by right now). A lot of what they’ve produced has been donated from the company to local charities like the children’s hospital and other local emergency centers and services. Bluebird’s Phoenixville Distillery is open. https://bluebirddistilling.com/

We first learned about his efforts from this article; there are some more great quotes from Jared there: https://6abc.com/…/philly-proud-local-brewery-tur…/6093325/…

Psi U Red Leader at the MakeItThrough Alliance creates team to create masks for first responders. Jean-Etienne LaVallee EI’94 (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)  lives in Richmond, VA and is also a huge member of the “maker” community there – designers and fabricators who use 3d printing and machining skills to make just about anything. With the onset of the pandemic Etienne and his friends Larkin Garbee, Adam Gainer, Bert Green, & Jeff Rock launched the Starwars themed “MakeItThru Alliance” to produce medical community approved face shields.  Assembled from approved materials in a sterile environment, the Alliance has made over 15,000, starting with a donation of 500 to friends in the Navajo Nation. They have since donated many more to native tribes, extended care and clinical facilities in Virginia and elsewhere. They completed the “Shields Across the Alliance” sprint campaign at their Echo Base Safe Assembly Center in conjunction with Alliance partners in RVA Project Shield   (covid-19 response) and GOODHEALTHTaskForce.

He writes “Our team of only 9 @MakeItThru Alliance volunteer Assemblators produced 4000 units of the “Goodshield 1000” flexible face shield design in less than 4 days! In total, our cross-Alliance effort produced over 10,000 face shields in less than a week which will be on local HCP caregivers heads within the next 48hrs.”

Of the shields produced at Echo Base, 3500 will be heading to the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Southside and the remaining units will be going to Bon Secours and other local HCPs. If you’d like to contribute to his ongoing efforts, you can do so here.
MakeItThrough is also a valuable resource if you have question about how to use you maker skills and resources to help medical personnel in your area; contact them at makeitthru@goodworksociety.org

 If you would like to purchase a faceshield while also donating here is their “Good Store” donation shop: https://www.goodworksociety.org/store/c3/GOODSHIELD2000.html

Learn more about their work here !

We are proud to announce that undergrads at the Tau chapter at University of Pennsylvania have donated $1873 of leftover dues to the PHL COVID-19 fund. The PHL COVID-19 Fund provides grants to nonprofits throughout the Greater Philadelphia region that have a demonstrated track record of serving those most at-risk during this crisis, such as seniors, people with disabilities, and those who are experiencing homeless or who are economically disadvantaged. Way to go, Castle!

Picture is from a workshop on Active Listening conducted at the chapter in February.