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:

• North Campus: Davis Hall reception desk, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays. For more information contact Shannon Phillips.
• South Campus: 281 Pharmacy Building, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
  10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday; 2-5 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
  For more information, contact Niki Pizzutelli.

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:

• North Campus: 208 Davis Hall. For more information, contact Shannon Phillips.
• South Campus: First floor cafe, Pharmacy Building. For more information, contact Niki Pizzutelli.
• Downtown Campus: Main and High Street entrance and Washington Street entrance (near elevators), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

For more information, contact Gina Prescott.