In his 21 years teaching mathematics at SUNY Potsdam, Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Blair Madore has supported his students in ways he never anticipated before becoming a college professor. From driving students to the emergency room to hosting them for Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at his home, Madore is willing to go above and beyond his academic responsibilities to ensure his students’ success.
Dr. Blair Madore with mathematics student Miryam Veliz Calderon ’20 at the Legacy Luncheon.
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Madore realized he had fewer opportunities to help his students in practical ways. He shared, “My students were at their own homes, and there was no way I could help them when they needed help more than ever before.”
He soon learned that one of his advisees living in Brooklyn was struggling to find necessary food and supplies for his family, a burden that inhibited him from concentrating on his studies. Madore sought to find a grocery service to ship food and supplies to the student, but there were none available in the New York City area at the time.
“Finally, I learned that our own College Store was offering to sell food and supplies to students and mail their purchases to them,” Madore explained. “My math department colleagues and I all contributed to raise $150 and buy a ‘care package’ for the student and have it shipped to Brooklyn. The College Store made it easy and put together an awesome array of food and supplies, including items that were very hard to get at the time, like toilet paper and hand sanitizer.”
Madore was so inspired by the College Store’s ability to ship necessary supplies to students that he recommended other faculty members and departments consider sponsoring care packages at a subsequent Faculty Senate meeting.
“Senior Assistant Librarian Holly Chambers, the kindest and gentlest person in the world, spoke up offering to pay for a care package if someone knew a student in need,” Madore recounted. “I knew it would be unfair of me to leave Holly with the burden of perhaps numerous requests, so I immediately offered to take names of students in need. Little did I know this would lead to such a large enterprise.”
Within the next month, over 80 different faculty and staff members contributed $7,000 to provide more than 60 care packages for students. In addition to giving financially, many faculty and staff members also generously offered their time to help coordinate the initiative and organize individual packages.
“Once the social distancing thing is lifted, there is always room for you at my supper table. That’s how we treat our family – and being part of this college means you are my family.” -Dr. Blair Madore
Madore especially valued Chambers’s commitment to the project, noting that she “has been at the heart of every package sent” and coordinated almost the entire enterprise.
The content of the care packages varied, depending on the students’ needs, but many contained a $100 gift card, $100 in food and supplies from the College Store, a letter from the faculty, a card from President Esterberg, notes from the College Store staff and a stuffed Potsdam Bear.
“The bear was Holly’s idea, and it really captures the essence of why we are doing this. We cannot solve all our students’ problems, but maybe we can help a little bit and definitely we can show them we care,” Madore said.
Many of the students who received packages shared photos of the contents on social media along with messages of gratitude.
“If there were a way I could thank the President’s Office and the College Store a million times over at SUNY Potsdam I wouldn’t hesitate to do so,” one student expressed. “I am full of gratitude and my heart is extremely full. I am so honored to be part of such an amazing school.”
Madore was blown away by the generosity of the SUNY Potsdam faculty and the collective impact they were able to make in the lives of their students.
“Why did so many faculty support us in this endeavor?” he asked himself. “Because they care for their students, and more importantly, they care for all our students, even the ones they do not know.”
Despite the hardships that SUNY Potsdam students may currently be facing, Madore wants them to know that they can continue to have hope.
“They should have hope because they are part of a caring academic community,” he shared. “They should have hope because they are working on their education and positioning themselves for their future careers. Perhaps those careers will start more slowly in this new economic reality, but I can assure you that the graduates of this college will be needed, even prized, in the economy of the future.”
Madore also wants students to know that his door is always open, whether in MacVicar Hall or in his home.
“Once the social distancing thing is lifted, there is always room for you at my supper table. That’s how we treat our family – and being part of this college means you are my family.”
To learn how you can support students impacted by COVID-19, visit potsdam.edu/giving.