Globe Institute Of Technology Pitches In To Help Terrorist Victims In Beslan, Russia

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Globe Institute Of Technology Pitches In To Help Terrorist Victims In Beslan, Russia
09/24/2004 05:54 PM
By: NY1 News

A group of students and faculty comes together to help families affected by the recent terror attacks in Beslan, Russia. In the following report, NY1’s Sandra Endo introduces us to our latest New Yorkers of the Week.

Boxes filled with unopened toys and school supplies are small gifts of hope and encouragement for children who were caught up in an almost unimaginable act of terror.

“We want them to smile, we want kids to feel again, to have the feeling of how it feels to be a kid," says Globe Institute of Technology Academic Dean Elena Estrin.

It won't be easy. More than 150 children were among some 300 people killed when terrorists took over their elementary school in Beslan, Russia, early this month. Other children escaped with their lives, but also with the memory of watching their friends die.

Students and faculty at the Globe Institute of Technology in Lower Manhattan felt they needed to do something.

“To see any terrorist act take place to people in an educational facility I think really hit home for a lot of people, and so that was a big motivator," says Dean of Student Services Ryan Buck.

Another was their own brush with terror. Their school is just blocks from where the Twin Towers fell.

"I think being in Lower Manhattan, this school was very much a part of what happened on 9/11,” says Buck. “The staff and the faculty went through the post-9/11 healing process, and they feel very connected to those who share that similar experience."

For some there is the sense of heritage.

“I was born in southern Russia," says recent graduate Yevgeniy Berzitskiy.

But this sense of responsibility goes beyond race and nationality.

"I'm from Jamaica, and I know if that something would have happened there I would want everyone to chip in and help,” says current student Nakia Martin. “I have nephews and I have nieces there that are young, and if this should happen I would want someone else to say, ÎLet's lend a hand there.’"

The Globe Institute plans to send at least one shipment in the next week. They hope to receive more donations of toys and school supplies to ship off to the children in Beslan soon.

"There is only so much we can do, but we want to show that we stand together," says Estrin.

Globe Institute will match any in kind donation, and will foot the bill for all administrative and shipping costs.

So, for trying to put smiles back on the faces of children thousands of miles away, the students and faculty at the Globe Institute of Technology are our New Yorkers of the Week.

Globe Institute is accepting donations daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the school lobby at 291 Broadway. For more information call 1-212-349-4330, or go to www.globe.edu.

If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:

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