Last week the D19 class volunteered with Urban Edge, an organization based around helping families in need. Their main aim is in construction of affordable housing, but they also want to strengthen communities and families through their housing. They put on a few events each year and one of the events is the Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. Volunteers from the D19 class were welcomed to attend to help out on this busy day for the community. Abby Manzella (D19) had this to say:
“We had an overflow of students wanting to donate their time but we had to narrow it down to ourselves and three others based on their interest and timely responses. We set up a table at the event with a jeopardy board and different oral care pamphlets. The five of us switched off between working at the table and checking people in. We were blown away by the interest and incredible reactions we were getting from the attendees. The children LOVED the monkey and had to get in line to brush his teeth because they were all so antsy! The older kids and adults loved the jeopardy game and many did multiple questions. Everyone had a blast and we hope that next year we can go back and bring a bigger group of our classmates!! One of the best parts of the evening was when an older woman was complaining about her teeth and Gilbert was able to help translate a pamphlet for her and instruct her to call Tufts to be seen by a pre-doctoral student. She then said that us being there was ‘a blessing in disguise’. It was a wonderful evening for all of us.”
