Cornell students give back this holiday season

By Laura Gallup
Student & Campus Life

This year in between Thanksgiving, prelims, homework, finals and packing up for winter break - Cornell students found time to give back. Below is just a sampling of how students served the Cornell campus and Ithaca communities this holiday season to do the greatest good.

Big Red Marching Band

Nov. 7
The Big Red Marching Band (BRMB,) the largest fully student-run marching band in the Ivy League, gave back to the Cornell community this year by clearing and preparing 30 sites for tree planting on the Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail within the Cornell Botanic Gardens. Emily Mawhinney ’26, an Environment and Sustainability major and the BRMB Philanthropy Coordinator, chose this spot after visiting the gardens for a class and learning how groups could volunteer.

During the event the BRMB members split into two teams; the first group cleared the site while the second made fencing to protect the newly planted saplings from deer. The groups used cutters, rakes and a good amount of elbow grease to remove all plant debris from the area, including plants that were still in the ground. 

“Everyone had a lot of fun being outside and giving back to the community,” Mawhinney said. “On top of that we were able to clear every site - so it was really rewarding to see what we were able to accomplish.”

The Cascadilla Gorge Trail connects downtown Ithaca with the Cornell Campus and will be open for visitors later this spring and summer. Access to the bottom of the trail can be found near the intersection of Linn Streets and E. Court Street, while access to the top of the trail can be found behind the Schwartz Performing Arts Center on College Ave.

Mens and Women's Ice Hockey teams

Nov. 1 – Dec. 12
As students entered the final months of the semester, the Varsity Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey teams banded together in support of our local community with a Toys for Tots Toy Drive on campus. Athletes placed three drop-off boxes around Lynah Rink for friends and fans to donate toys as they cheered on the Big Red, and they also visited the Trumansburg Winterfest to collect donations. In total, the teams donated 134 toys to be distributed within Tompkins County.

Former player Makenna Chokelal ’25, a psychology major, said that when she was young, she and her mom would shop for Christmas toys for a local family from their church. Since starting college she hasn’t had as much time to help her mom, so Chokelal jumped at the opportunity to give back while on campus. 

“It just warms my heart to know that kids will be getting a gift during the holiday season; on Christmas waking up and seeing a brand new toy set,” Chokelal said. “When I go shopping to pick a toy to put into the Toys for Tots box, I think about what I would have wanted as a child. It gives you a moment to relive your childhood and it's really rewarding.”
 

Cornell Tradition

Dec. 2
Each year, the Cornell Tradition - part of the Cornell Commitment -  hosts ‘Season of Service’ at the end of the first semester. This year more than 50 Tradition fellows gathered for this annual event to work on five different projects in support of the community and community members.

• Members of the Tradition Student Advisory Committee (SAC) shopped for two local children that Tradition sponsored through the Cornell Elves program, and fellows wrapped the gifts.  Gifts will go to the children’s school to be picked up by the family.
• Tradition fellows donated and packed items for five holiday decoration bags for the Greyson Project. Bags included a battery-powered lit tree, clings and markers to decorate the windows, garland, craft kits and handheld games. This organization distributes the bags to Children’s Hospitals across the country; ours will be distributed in the Albany area.
• Fellows created hundreds of cards and matching envelopes for the Cards for Kindness program. Blank cards were created to be used by hospital staff, parents and hospital volunteers when they want to share encouragement with patients in hospitals, shelters, treatment facilities and retirement homes.  
• Fellows brought in gently-used shoes to be sent to Argentina this winter. Jeffrey Zoyhofski ’24, a Cornell Tradition Fellow who volunteered with an organization called La Provincia de Misiones last summer, will bring them when he returns next year.
• As a gesture of gratitude, students put together bags of candy to be delivered to campus partners including Cornell Police, Cornell Health, and Cornell Environmental Health and Safety. They also dropped bags in several academic buildings and libraries as a pick-me-up for students finishing up their semester work. 

Anna Hooper ‘25, a communications major and co-leader of the event, said that her time spent as a Tradition Fellow has given her a strong sense of purpose and drive.

“Service is an incredibly revitalizing experience,” Hooper said. “I have discovered that in helping others, I also help myself. When I serve, I heighten my knowledge of the world and become a kinder and more empathetic person.”

Hooper said that surrounding herself with people who share a love for service and community has expanded her view of what service can look like and cemented the importance of community-building when trying to bring change.

“Service is fueling and has the potential to seep into all areas of somebody's life,” Hooper said. “Giving back with the Cornell Tradition Fellowship has created a route for me to be deliberate in the ways that I better the world, which is a mindset I try to carry on an everyday basis.”
 

Outdoor Odyssey

Nov. 11
Outdoor Odyssey, a pre-orientation program for incoming first-year and undergraduate transfers hosted by Cornell Outdoor Education, gets together for at least one trail service activity annually during the academic year to reconnect and give back. 

This year they collaborated with Cayuga Trails Club to work on a section of Monkey Run, a local hiking trail near campus that runs along Fall Creek. Students helped create passages for runoff rainwater to be diverted from a trail section that has a set of dirt stairs. They dug small trenches for water to move through and placed a wooden plank and rocks to brace it. This seemingly-small alteration will keep the notoriously muddy trails safer and more accessible to hikers and bikers during the rainy Ithaca months.

2023 Outdoor Odyssey Coordinators Bella Threlkeld ’24, an economics major, and Bridget Neely ’24, a chemistry major, said that this year was extra special because a few brand new guides were able to participate in the service activity after recently being accepted into the program. 

Students interested in taking a trip in summer 2024 with Outdoor Odyssey can now sign up on their website.
 

Cornell Hunger Relief

Dec 20 & 21
Students from Cornell Hunger Relief (CHR,) an organization supported by the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, recently teamed up with Chef Eric Symcak from Cornell’s Statler Hotel for the Statler Hotel's ‘Great Chicken Dinner Give-Away’. Students, faculty and staff prepped, cooked, packaged and shipped out meals for 100 local families. To identify families in need, they worked with community partners at the Friendship Donations Network, Loaves and Fishes, Salvation Army, Foodbank of the Southern Tier and No Mas Lagrimas.

Co-Presidents of CHR Cat Diao ’24, a public policy major and Kayla Hsu ’24, a nutritional sciences major, both said that their classwork has translated to and inspired the work they’ve done with CHR.

“As a nutritional sciences major, you learn in the classroom about specific types of proteins and carbohydrates that will support a healthy lifestyle, but it's so hard to achieve that when you don't have consistent access to food,” said Hsu. 

They both also noted how being a part of CHR has allowed them to get off campus and truly feel like a part of the Ithaca community, giving them a purpose beyond homework and exams.

“At Cornell, I think it’s almost a duty to give back to the community - this principle of reciprocity,” Diao said. “I think being at Cornell comes with a lot of privilege and a lot of resources, and I want to use that to benefit the community in the best way that we can. We're guests in their homes for a significant part of the year, and they give so much to us.”
 

Alpha Gamma Rho – Zeta Chapter

Nov. 11
Many years ago, a member of Cornell’s Alpha Gamma Rho Zeta Chapter (AGR) got to know a local farmer with land along Route 13 and identified an opportunity to maintain the section of highway for the community. Now a semesterly tradition, the men from Alpha Gamma Rho Zeta Chapter perform roadside cleanup around Ithaca each fall. They are so committed to the task – they even have a road sign with their name on it, through the Adopt the Highway Program, on Route 13.

There is a strong culture of service in AGR. The group also recently volunteered after a POW MIA watchfire event with the local VFW chapter in Myers Park in Lansing. In an activity that usually takes the VFW days to complete, the brothers helped clean up debris after the get-together in just a few hours.

“I think we can collectively, as a group, have a pretty big impact, if all of us go at it at once,” said Collin MacDonald ‘24, an agricultural science major, and president of AGR. “I know the local VFW chapter was rather surprised how fast 40 of us could get it done. It doesn't really take a lot if we can just organize everybody to get out there, it takes us a very short amount of time to have a significant impact.”

Raymond Pan ’25, an environmental sustainability major, and the AGR philanthropy chair, said that volunteering has been part of his life for a long time, and he’s glad to have found a way to continue during college.

“It's a great way for me to meet new people who share a common passion and to give back to the community,” Pan said. “Especially for me as an environmental science major, trash pickup just fits into my general interest and academics as well. And it's just a great way to connect with the community.”
 

The Kappa Xi Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Nov 22-Dec 15
For the third year in a row, The Kappa Xi Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. organized and led a Toy and Coat Drive to benefit Ithaca families in need. The chapter includes members from Cornell and Ithaca College, and partners with Brothers for Brothers, an Ithaca College student organization that empowers people of color. Each year they are able to collect between 50-100 toys and coats through their drop-boxes around Tompkins County.

Jesse Osterfeld ‘26, vice-president and community service chairperson of the Kappa Xi Chapter, said this activity is very important to members because their motto is ‘Culture for service and service for humanity.’ “

“Service is one of our three core principles,” said Osterfeld, a viticulture and enology major. “We all come from different backgrounds, and we study different things at our respective campuses, but service is one of the things that unite us and can bring us together.”

He said that when the drive was over, members wrapped the gifts and delivered them to Southside Community Center. The Center will host a holiday event to distribute the items to children.

The chapter provides service to other community organizations, including the Calvary Baptist Church. Leading up to Thanksgiving the group worked with the Church to donate more than 30 turkeys to their monthly food pantry.

“It just brings me a lot of joy to give back and see when people are really grateful for something,” Osterfeld said. “It's all smiles, and everybody feels good. Seeing people come in and receive a 10- or 15-pound turkey, their faces light up. It's something great to see. And it's really unmatched by anything.” 

Across varsity sports, fraternities and clubs, Cornell students showed their commitment to community engagement and service this holiday season - and throughout the year. These students embody what it means to be a Cornellian and their good deeds will reverberate through the campus and Ithaca communities for years to come.