City of Newburgh residents were welcomed to Mount Saint Mary College’s Aquinas Hall on a brisk Saturday morning to take part in a community giveaway event that included coats, winter clothing, shoes, shirts and other accessories. The drive was a collaborative effort between the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness team and the grassroots organization Melanin Unchained of Newburgh.

During the course of the morning, Program Coordinator Ashley Collazo greeted families and helped Spanish speaking parents and visitors to Aquinas Hall with finding clothes and other items that they would need. About 200 coats with several hundred hats were available to be taken home. “I think it’s always deeply fulfilling to be able to curate or create experiences and events that we know and recognize are really needed in our community. It’s always really great to work with local community organizations, and just collaborate with new partners,” said Collazo. “As a center, we’re always really conscious and intentional about creating access. The Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness is here in the community and it’s here to serve them.”

Collazo also shared her gratitude for her team that includes Executive Director Genesis Ramos and Administrative Assistant Lisbeth Beco for the work they have all done to make this event a success for the community. Beco, who is also bilingual, helped families in finding items and guiding them through the drive if they needed assistance. “We all have basic needs, some more than others. And if I’m able to provide that through the services that we have, I think that’s such a great thing to do, especially because everything that we have is free,” said Beco.“I love the people that I work with. I hope that we can, you know, continue to provide the services not only like Newburgh but the surrounding communities around us.”

Ahmad Free-Cohen, Vice President of Melanin Unchained, helped with setting up clothes for people to pick out and shared his own thoughts on being able to serve his community. “Seeing people come in and getting clothes and being able to give them food, and especially with how cold it was, just being able to provide for them in that sense, it always warms my heart, it always makes me happy, as a person that understands what it’s like to not have much, being able to give back in any way that I can is always great to see,” said Free-Cohen. “It’s very important to meet the people where they are. For people to actually be able to be on the campus, and see even if it’s just that one building, but seeing a little bit of what the campus is like, I feel that was really amazing and awesome and I feel like it opened a lot of doors for more things to come.”

The program featured available items for families to take home, materials in both English and Spanish and a free warm breakfast provided by the college, and residents also had the opportunity to use the bus system in the city that is free till March 31.

Care packages also prepared by Mount students that included hand warmers, sanitizers and other small items were available to the public.