SGA collected life-saving materials such as gauze bandages, painkillers and antibiotics. Photo by Salvatore Ambrosino

By Faith Miller
Southern Editor


The war in Ukraine has spurred Florida Southern College’s Student Government Association to host a drive collecting medical supplies for its citizens. 

“The purpose of this drive is to show that Florida Southern College stands with Ukraine during this heartbreaking tragedy,” Administrative Vice President of SGA Natalie McGinnis said. “We hope that the donations collected by our students help the people in Ukraine as they show great courage and perseverance during these hard times.  

The drive began when Masha Rezhylo, an international student from Ukraine, reached out to SGA wanting to do something to support her country. 

“I just wanted to help people back home, and I knew that the community around here had resources,” Rezhylo said.

“She contacted Dean Crawford and I, and we quickly approached SGA with the idea,” SGA President Allen Shorey said. 

“I was happy that we were going to be able to do something tangible,” Dean of Students Mike Crawford said. 

Rezhylo provided the contacts needed to ship supplies. The drive ran until April 7th, and the supplies were shipped the week of April 11th. The supplies were being sent to Ukraine Express in Delaware. From there, it will be shipped to Ukraine and the surrounding countries. 

“Any support that someone gives is greatly appreciated, whether that’s donating supplies or money, or even sharing the graphic and spreading the word that we are collecting donations,” said McGinniss.

According to SGA, the drive collected medical supplies, including: “medical tourniquets, hemostatics, over-the-counter painkillers, adhesive bandages, and antiseptics,” The drive also collected monetary donations through the website www.flsouthern.edu/giving

“We have raised an incredible amount of both supplies and monetary donations, and we are hopeful that members of our community will continue to donate!” Shorey said. 

The boxes for the drive were located outside of MocMart, the Carsile Rogers building, Tutus CyberCafe, and the Fannin Center. The Moc Mart also sold medical supplies within the store for students to purchase and donate. 

“My hope is two-fold,” said Shorey. “I am eager to see such a great cause supported, but also to see our campus community come together around something we can all agree on,”

“We know that acts of compassion and generosity can make a huge difference during these difficult times,” said McGinnis. 

The drive-in total raised a rough estimate of 2,336 donations and an estimate of $3,000 in monetary donations through their link.

“I think that it was very successful,” Crawford said. “… any kind of crisis situation, our students have risen to the occasion.”

“To be honest, I didn’t expect the school would collect so many things. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the amount of boxes,” Rezhylo said.

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