CCSU Turns Mourning Into Giving
December 5, 2018
Dec. 14 will mark six years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The memory is ingrained into the state’s history; the lives lost are unforgotten and the scene unfolding on the news that day is still impossible to erase.
But on this dark anniversary, Central Connecticut will aim to morph the state’s grief into a day of charity with its Love Wins Community Drive in collaboration with the CCSU Ana Grace Project and New Britain public schools.
“We hope that this drive does a lot to remind the families that live here in this community of New Britain that Central is a good partner and that love does always win,” Nelba Marquez-Greene, director of the Ana Grace Project, said.
Marquez-Greene lost her daughter, six-year-old Ana, in the shooting. The gunman killed 20 children and six staff, memorializing Newtown as the home of one of the country’s most heinous atrocities. However, the families who lost dancers, Beatles lovers, painters, athletes and, in Marquez-Greene’s case, her “Caramel Princess,” have shown steady resilience after six years, forming non-profit organizations like Sandy Hook Promise.
At CCSU, Marquez-Greene’s organization is the Ana Grace Project, which “is dedicated to promoting love, community and connection for every child and family,” according to its website. The Love Wins Community Drive is emblematic of that—an effort to do good in the face of tragedy.
“As a university community, all of those victims are still in our hearts and we’re going to do all that we can to remember them on [Dec. 14] and, at the same time, really work hard to do something that has some meaning and help people that truly need our help,” Vice President for Institutional Advancement Christopher Galligan stated.
The drive is collecting donations of new toys, winter clothing, toiletries and food until Dec. 14, according to a university announcement. Last year, hundreds of people formed a heart outside Davidson Hall for the Márquez-Greene family, donning purple “Love Wins” hats that are to make a reappearance this year, and donations were many.
The box in front of President Dr. Zulma Toro’s office in Davidson Hall is overflowing, and Executive Assistant to the President Courtney McDavid explained that’s because donations have been coming in quickly.
“It’s a show of love and our thoughts, being with all the families that day,” McDavid said, furthering that even businesses like Eversource and community members like the New Britain Fire Department are contributing boxes of donations. CCSU also supplies purple donation boxes.
All of the donations will culminate into one massive donation effort on Dec. 14 on the front steps of Davidson Hall from 6 a.m. to noon. The lot will become a “drive-in to drop-off” location. The donations will be given to New Britain Youth and Family Services, New Britain schools and the on-campus Maria’s Place food pantry, among other agencies. McDavid is confident that the turnout will be big.
“It’s a great way to do something positive on a day that’ll forever be on everybody’s minds,” she stated. “We encourage the community to please join us on that day to give back and show our thoughts are with Nelba and her family and other families on that day.”
