MAASV Struggles with Donations

The members of St. Lawrence University’s Male Athletes Against Sexual Violence Organization (MAASV) have yet to receive a single donation during their current campaign. 

The club is holding a sock and underwear drive to benefit Nightengale Elementary, Jefferson Elementary and Madison Elementary in Massena, N.Y. 

The drive, which was originally scheduled to run from October 3 to October 10, has been extended indefinitely until sufficient donations are collected.

“MAASV publicized this drive on our social media platforms, we posted flyers around campus, we sent emails, and then we had an article put in The Hill News,” MAASV’s President Tyler Grochot ’22 said. “We have extended the drive in hopes of getting more donations. The students are in desperate need of socks and underwear, especially as the temperatures begin to drop.” 

The United States Census estimates that 24.4 percent of the Massena population lives in poverty, which is 10 percent higher than the New York State rate of 14.1 percent.

In fact, a recent North Country Now study revealed that about 30 percent of the children of St. Lawrence County (6,711 kids) live in poverty, which is one in three children, according to the state Department of Health. This is not the first time that the Massena Public Schools have attempted to aid students living below the poverty line. 

Teachers and administrators at these schools have paired students that come from disadvantaged backgrounds with adults in an effort to mentor them.

“The main things that the kids do lack are underwear and socks when coming to school and it’s more or less the last thing parent’s think of when they are purchasing for their kids,” a representative from The Massena Elementary Schools said. 

“The main issue we’re running into is being able to provide them with enough. It seems like every day we’re handing out several pairs of underwear and several pairs of socks to students and it’s super helpful for us to have the extras here so that we can provide them to anybody who does need them throughout the day.”

This is the first time that MAASV has run this drive. “We were made aware of the schools’ needs and really wanted to help.” Cavan Lamontagne ’22, Vice-President of MAASV, said. 

“It has not gone as well as we had planned and in leaving the donation box out longer and utilizing social media even more, we are doing our best to receive more donations to service these three schools.”