Students, Faculty, and Staff to Assemble 500 Comfort Kits for Victims of Sexual Assault
HUDSON, N.Y. – Columbia-Greene Community College will host its first SUNY’s Got Your Back (SGYB) event on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at the C-GCC campus.
Launched in 2016 to bring awareness to sexual assault and domestic violence, SGYB also provides comfort kits to victims. The program expanded in 2018 with $5 million in funding from the New York State Office of Victim Services, enabling SUNY to supply and distribute 225,000 comfort bags to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence seeking help at hospitals, shelters, and rape crisis centers across the state.
C-GCC President Carlee Drummer, Ph.D., said the C-GCC team will assemble 500 comfort kits to add to that number, which then will be distributed to rape crisis centers, hospitals, and shelters across the region.
“I’m so pleased that C-GCC is taking part in this important initiative,” Drummer remarked. “By enlisting the help of our students, the program raises awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence issues and is positively affects the lives of people living right here in the Twin Counties.”
SGYB will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the HRBTF Student Dining Hall. Twenty ‘super volunteers,’ including students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff, will guide set-up and coordination of the program, and several more volunteers will be on-hand throughout the event to assemble kits.
Each comfort bag contains personal essential hygiene products to assist victims with self-care – soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, comb and deodorant – along with a pen, notepad, stress ball, and an affirming message from a volunteer. The bags also contain information about support services and educational materials intended to alert victims of their rights under state law.
For more information, visit suny.edu/gotyourback/.