First-year Unity College students have raised $5K for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

The students organized a December 8 fundraising concert at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts in Unity.

The effort included a performance by The Coloradas, whose leader Roy Davis is a Waldo County native.  He congratulated the Unity students who organized the benefit for getting involved in the important cause.

At the event there were representatives from the National Emergency Response Team, the Waldo County Emergency Management Agency, and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD).

Students raised money at the event through the suggested donation at the door, by a bake sale, selling t-shirts, and soliciting extra donations from the crowd by carrying buckets emblazoned with ME HEARTS NY logos.

The students secured a $2K donation from Unity College President Stephen Mulkey.

“A private citizen in New Jersey was so impressed with the effort that our first year students are making that he offered to match the amount raised,” said Professor John Zavodny.  “That donation brought us over the $5K mark.”

“The students really appreciate WERU Community Radio media support for the effort,” noted Zavodny.  “One of the great side effects of this kind of partnership with WERU is that it introduces our first year students in their first weeks of living in this community to amazing local assets like WERU.”

All of the money raised is going directly to hurricane victims in the mid-Atlantic area through the efforts of the National Emergency Response Team.

“Unity College faculty and staff, along with the extended community, could not be more proud of our first year students,” Zavodny noted. “They embodied the sustainability science mission and strong values of service leadership that are hallmarks of Unity College.”

Unity College is a small private college in rural Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012