"We started paying attention to what our community partners in Brunswick were saying they needed, in particular those who serve basic needs, because their services for the most part cannot be suspended," said McKeen Center Director Sarah Seames. She was referring to the town's food pantry and soup kitchen, homeless shelters, and the free health clinic.
At the same time, McKeen Center staff began fielding calls from students and alumni who wanted to share their ideas for supporting the community. So, in a communal effort—with the McKeen Center serving as a kind of clearinghouse—Bowdoin students, staff, faculty, and alumni have come up with a number of ways people can help during the COVID-19 crisis.
Maine Students Blood Donation Drive
Though it was originally intended to be a three-way competition between Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby, the Maine Students Blood Drive now includes ten colleges and universities, after they each requested to join.
And while all the schools are based in Maine, their students across the country—along with faculty, staff, and even friends and relatives—can donate blood where they are and get it counted for their affiliated school if they use this form. (As of April 17, Bowdoin had a slight lead. You can follow the progress at @MaineBloodDrive.)
The competition is a lighthearted way to promote a serious cause: it wants to drum up blood donations when the amount of available supply is plummeting. "If students can get out there and donate, it is one of the ways they can help, and it is one of the ways we can come together as a community," said Diego Villamarin ’20.
Villamarin is one of the coleaders of the student group Prehealth Society, which is partnering with Tufts University medical student Addie Browne ’16 to oversee the competition. Browne first proposed the idea of the blood drive to Bowdoin.
She was in her last rotation in pediatric oncology at the Maine Medical Center—right before medical students got pulled from hospitals nationwide as a COVID-19 precaution—when she observed a distressing emergency. Children with cancer are often dependent on regular—sometimes daily—transfusions of red blood cells or platelets. Yet as people started to shelter in place to decrease infection rates of the novel coronavirus, blood donations dropped off.
"The hospital was encouraging us to donate if we could," Browne said of her fellow medical students. She decided soon after to launch a monthlong blood drive competition among college students. "It felt like a tangible thing for people to do."
The Red Cross website allows people to find blood drives close to them.
Senior Call-in Program
People Plus, in Brunswick, offers support for senior citizens. When the McKeen Center checked in with Executive Director Stacy Frizzle about ways Bowdoin volunteers could help, Frizzle suggested they participate in the organization's recently ramped up call-in program.
"Because we’re closed, we’re trying to stay engaged with members who would have been coming into the center, especially staying connected to our older, more vulnerable population," Frizzle said. Typically People Plus offes daily classes, meals, game clubs, or book clubs that bring people in regularly.
About 100 senior citizens who don't have family nearby have asked for the new call-in service, and have been matched with the volunteers. When the McKeen Center put out the call, thirty Bowdoin students, staff, and faculty signed up.
"It lets us have a conversation and remind them they're not alone," Frizzle said.
Adrienne Shibles, head coach of women's basketball at Bowdoin, got connected to an elderly woman who she speaks with once or twice a week. The woman was an educator, so they have that in common, Shibles said.
"She's always so sweet when I call," Shibles added, saying she was prompted to volunteer because of her own close relationships with her grandparents. And telephoning one person seemed like an easy way "to give back in these crazy times. It's a little thing, but a positive way to do something good for the community."
A Giving Game, a Student Advisory Board, and Helping Out Internationally
- On April 28, at 8:30 p.m., Annie Rose ’20 and Anna Martens ’20 are facilitating a "giving game." People who register for the Bowdoin event learn about effective philanthropy and then help decide which nonprofit will receive a donation of $300. "Participants learn about high-impact philanthropy and consider giving in the time of COVID-19," Seames said.
- The McKeen Center has also developed a temporary student advisory group to brainstorm ways to direct people's desire to give during the COVID-19 crisis.
- In addition, the McKeen Center staff is assisting students who contact them asking how to help. Calling a local United Way or 211, or going to 211.org, can provide information on volunteering.
- And for those who wish to help out internationally, Omprakash, a nonprofit founded by Willie Oppenheim ’09, offers a portal to connect online volunteers with organizations around the world.
