Mary Lyon Hall Sponsors Grilled Cheese Relief for Hurricane Irma

C utting across the Caribbean and up through to Florida, Hurricane Irma has left a path of destruction and despair in its wake. This hurricane season has been particularly traumatic for those living in and around the southern region of the United States, and relief organizations are sending aid from nearby states, and helping within their own cities and towns. On Wednesday, September 13th, the Mary Lyon Hall Residential Life staff organized a Grilled Cheese Relief Fund for Hurricane Irma, raising a total of sixty-five dollars in one hour.

Christian Gonzalez, a sophomore Community Advisor in Mary Lyon Hall, helped organize the event. “I think it’s an amazing thing we’re doing for the community,” Gonzalez said. “We have residents here giving money to people in need, and when we come together, we make Plymouth State stronger. I feel like this is what we’re supposed to be doing on campus as a college—we’re supposed to be spreading positivity and helping those in need.”

The residents of Mary Lyon Hall were instructed to call the Community Advisors’ (CAs) duty phones to place a grilled cheese order, and the order was then delivered in the style of room-service. Each grilled cheese was priced one dollar, and within the first ten minutes of heating up the griddles, the CAs got a call for five grilled cheeses in one order. By the end of the night, CAs had gone through four loaves of bread and countless slices of cheese. They were excitedly running many grilled cheeses to dorm rooms.

“It’s going to make a difference,” said Moses Strout. “I feel like even putting on a grilled cheese program that like gets people involved, we shouldn’t even have to do that. I feel like everybody should just want to help out.”

The CAs did not anticipate the amount of donations Mary Lyon students generously provided, and the Mary Lyon staff are excited to provide residents more charitable opportunities throughout the year. Just last year, Langdon Woods, Grafton and Blair Hall donated to organizations with “Pie Your CA Programs”.

Kennedy Mang is a junior, Administrative Community Advisor and a student athlete. “Not only are students giving back to the community, they’re giving back to a great cause. We can make an impact down there whether it’s five dollars, or five hundred, or five thousand,” Mang said “And a lot of students that I’ve been watching for the past hour, even though the grilled cheeses are only a dollar, I’ve seen students giving five, ten, fifteen dollars. I think it really just opens eyes especially in a freshman dorm, it gets them feeling like they’re impacting campus from day one.”

Mary Lyon students demonstrated humility by getting involved and making a difference, as well as a strong Plymouth State community that is committed to serve.