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SUNY Canton Online Student-Athlete Spearheads Donation Drive

Canton, NY (03/18/2019) — An outstanding online SUNY Canton student has made it her personal mission to support families of children with heart defects.

Madeline F. Hewitt, a Legal Studies major, recently ran a college-wide donation drive to supply materials to create Heart Bags for the Congenital Heart Defect Coalition. Each bag is given to a family to help them through extensive hospital visits.

"Heart bags provide families with games and activities while they wait through long hours of surgery," Hewitt said. "My godson was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. For me and my family, the bags of donated supplies let us know that there are people out there supporting us."

The college community, including Hewitt's teammates from the cross country team, donated more than 100 items to outfit the heart bags, which include games, coloring books, and personal care items. "These donations will help lift the spirts of families with children suffering from congenital heart defects."

Hewitt, a senior who will be graduating in May, is originally from Potsdam with family in the Syracuse area. She was named to the North Atlantic Conference Fall All-Academic Team and has received President's List Honors for academics.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in digital design, engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 16 online degree programs. The college placed first in 14 categories in a SUNY-Wide Student Opinion Survey, most notably in career services, tutoring, library resources, and classroom facilities. The college's 15 athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. For more information, visit www.canton.edu.

Media Attachments

Madeline F. Hewitt, a SUNY Canton Legal Studies major from Potsdam, holds some of the items donated during a recent Heart Bag donation drive on campus. The items will be given to families of children with congenital heart defects.

The SUNY Canton college community contributed more than 100 items to support Madeline F. Hewitt’s student-run Heart Bag donation drive. Hewitt began volunteering for the Congenital Heart Defect Coalition after her godson was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

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