While most people were looking forward to the 2-weeks of stress-free relaxation that arrives every Holiday season, this Fall 2021, students at Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB) wanted to use the spirit of the holidays to give back to our fellow FIU Panthers by kick-starting a collaborative BME Holiday food drive.
“Once our advisor pitched the idea, we were all in”, said Alejandro Guilarte, who drafted the promotional flier & shared it with other student organizations to raise awareness. The following day, a donation box was set up at the front reception desk area of the Biomedical Engineering department located in office EC 2600. The green & red Sharpie marker holiday decorated box featured bolded letters announcing the ‘AEMB Holiday Food Drive, Dec 6th – Dec 15th’. Before the day’s end, the box began being loaded with several donated nonperishable food items.
AEMB, partnered with the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) & IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBS) and together collected a total of 77 pounds of non-perishable food items. The donation was taken to be used for FIU’s Student Food Pantry, located in room 319 in the Graham Center, which supplies donated goods to students experiencing food insecurities.
“Once classes are over, there is always something to do. To me, making sure someone can spend a worry-less Holiday and enjoy a good meal like the rest of us is an incredible payoff”. AEMB plans to continue the tradition for future semesters so FIU biomedical engineering students can get actively involved in student organization activities & allow others to share in maintaining and advancing the quality of life in our local community.
Thank You! – The Food Pantry
On behalf of the FIU Student Food Pantry and those in our community who depend on your donations, we would like to thank you for your generous contribution on 12.17.2021 in collaboration with the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, Alpha Eta Mu Beta, and the Biomedical Engineering Society.