As the Buffalo Niagara region responds to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Medaille College community has come together to support those in need. The College has donated over 19,000 gloves and nine boxes of surgical masks to the Erie County Sheriff's Office in response to the critical shortage of personal protective equipment for local health care providers. A variety of surgical gloves, face shields, gowns, goggles and nursing caps were also donated to the county for medical use.

“Western New York is facing an unprecedented need for health care supplies and other services right now,” says Medaille College President Kenneth Macur, Ph.D. “As Buffalo’s College, community is one of Medaille’s guiding core values. We want to do whatever we can to help keep our health care professionals safe and meet the needs of our community, as we come together to deal with the coronavirus crisis.”

In addition to donating personal protective equipment, Medaille has volunteered the use of College vans to be used for food deliveries through FeedMore WNY (formerly the Food Bank of WNY and Meals on Wheels for WNY). Public safety officers from the College have been picking up other volunteers from Lancaster Senior Center and Hennepin Community Center, and are facilitating deliveries to homes and organizations throughout the Lancaster and Lovejoy neighborhoods.

Medaille alumni and faculty members have also been giving back to the City of Good Neighbors by offering their professional services and resources. Psychologist and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Social Sciences Julee Vitello, who was featured in The Buffalo News, is offering free counseling sessions to kids and parents in the wake of the pandemic. She is talking them through everything from their anxiety on behalf of an elderly relative to the struggle of explaining COVID-19 to children.

In light of recent events, Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) alumnus Nick Pitillo ’06, the owner of Osteria 166 in Buffalo and Villaggio in Ellicottville, has launched StockTheFreezer.com — a frozen meal order and delivery service. Offering home delivery of pre-frozen meals to customers, Pitillo also created an option to donate meals to a county or charity of one’s choosing. So far, over 4,450 meals have been donated. Read the full story from WIVB.