By Emma Gartenstein
Starting April 18, Hofstra University students began a donation drive to aid the Giving Closet, a project of the Empowerment Collective Long Island and the Victims Information Bureau, two Islandia-based organizations fighting human trafficking and sexual violence and abuse. Plastic donation boxes were placed around the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, where supplies can be dropped off.
The Giving Closet provides food, toiletries, feminine products and baby supplies to those in need.
ECLI-VIBES recently hosted their first Easter Eggstravanganza at their Islandia location. With big smiles on their faces, attendees created crafts, took part in an egg hunt and enjoyed Easter treats. Bikers Against Child Abuse, a worldwide organization striving to empower abused children, also made an appearance. Giving Closet supplies were available at the Eggstravaganza.
Anti-Trafficking counselor Hannah Ungarino said the Eggstravaganza was “not about Easter” so much as it was “about giving to the community, bringing the community together and supporting our families as much as possible,” as well as “making sure that they have the tools that they need to succeed.”
ELCI-VIBES, Ungarino added, is “more than just an agency. It’s a community event, and it’s a family. I really do believe so much in ECLI-VIBES and in what we do, and I love every part of being here.”
