SUNY Geneseo is once again partnering with Livingston CARES, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, in planning a service trip to Puerto Rico for its students and faculty.
The January 2020 trip will be the sixth time a group of students and faculty has visited the island. The first service trip took place in March 2018 just six months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. All trips apart from a July 2018 SUNY Stands with Puerto Rico summer trip have been sponsored by Livingston CARES.
Livingston CARES is a community partnership among representatives from SUNY Geneseo, the town and village of Geneseo, the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce, and the Livingston County administrator and board of supervisors.
Livingston CARES is dedicated to assisting communities and individuals locally, regionally, nationwide and globally in humanitarian projects, particularly focusing on disaster relief and recovery efforts. According to information on the SUNY Geneseo website (www.geneseo.edu/livingston-cares), Livingston CARES was established in September 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects along the Gulf Coast. The organization sent its first group of volunteers, including SUNY Geneseo students, to Biloxi, Miss., in the spring of 2006.
In March, 11 students and three faculty members took part in a service trip to Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Arecibo is a municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico and is located about an hour from the capital of San Juan. According to a Livingston CARES report written by Dilynn Livesey, a student leader on the trip, the group stayed in a camp provided through the United Methodist Church. The trip ran from March 16-23.
According to Livesey, the group had the opportunity to explore the area and met with locals March 16-17 before being split into work groups on March 18. The report noted that students were split into three groups. One was responsible for building two roofs, another worked on unfinished houses in the same area of Arecibo and the last group ventured out to work on a house in Hatillo, Puerto Rico.
Livingston CARES also sponsored a January trip to Patillas, Puerto Rico, and another service trip to Puerto Rico in May.
Volunteers are responsible for such work as demolishing/constructing houses, installing drywall, painting and beautifying grounds within the disaster areas of Biloxi, Miss.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Puerto Rico; the Florida Keys and Panhandle; and the Houston, Texas, region.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Registration for the Livingston CARES January service trip to Puerto Rico begins Oct. 1. For more information or to view reports of past Livingston CARES service trips to Puerto Rico, visit www.geneseo.edu/livingston-cares.
