News and views for the UB community
Published October 21, 2021
Buffalo will welcome 350 Afghan evacuees in the coming weeks, and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is partnering with local refugee resettlement agencies to provide the evacuees with urgently needed resources.
They are reaching out to the UB community for help. These evacuees will not be arriving under the traditional refugee process, but through humanitarian measures, which means they will receive minimal public assistance and will have difficulty in accessing jobs, housing, medical insurance and food aid.
“We are hopeful UB faculty and staff will assist the new members of our community in their time of great need,” says Gina Prescott, clinical associate professor and global health outreach coordinator at the pharmacy school. “The world today is connected as much by humanity as by geography.”
Items being requested for the Afghan evacuees include grocery store gift cards and new or gently used winter apparel, as well as financial donations.
Donations will be accepted Oct. 25 through Nov. 12.
Items needed and how to donate
Financial donations may be made directly to the WNY Refugee and Asylee Consortium.
Grocery story gift cards can be dropped off at locations on the North and South campuses:
Winter coats, hats and gloves — new or gently used and cleaned — can be dropped off in the boxes labeled “Afghan Evacuees Donations” at the following locations:
For more information, contact Gina Prescott.