After the recent explosion in the East Village, student leaders have come together under the NYU Can Help initiative to provide support for the victims of the fire. The student senators council, along with NYU’s Inter-Residence Hall Council, Inter-Greek Council and NYU Student Athlete Advisory Committee came together to contribute to the effort.

Members of the NYU community can contribute to the effort by donating clothes, toothbrushes and other goods in collection boxes that have been set up around campus. Also, students can make monetary donations through Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Seventh Street Fire Victims Fund. A link to the donation portal can be found on nyucanhelp.com.

CAS senior and SSC chair Jules O’Connor said the goods and money donated by NYU students will be sent to organizations outside the university.

“Once we all heard about the explosion and fire, we worked over the weekend to plan how best to help and decided that directing funds and donations to pre-existing organizations would be the most beneficial,” O’Connor said.

Tisch junior and IGC president Jack Ciapciak, who helped organize the donation endeavour, said IGC is committed to service initiatives and urged students to join the effort by donating as much as they can.

“One of the four pillars of greek life at NYU is service, and it is something we try to live out in our everyday lives,” Ciapciak said. “Therefore we feel as if it is our responsibility to help members of our community in times of need. We feel as if we can make a difference if we all join together. Let’s help those affected by this tragedy get back on their feet, every little bit counts.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said he hopes students will be sympathetic to the members of the NYU community and East Village citizens that were affected by the fire.

“It is a commendable effort to help those affected by the terrible fire on Seventh Street, both NYU’s neighbors and any members of our own community who were affected,” Beckman said. “Hopefully many in our community will contribute needed items or donate money to help address that happened in our neighborhood.”

NYU students had to be evacuated from Green House at Seventh Street Residence Hall and the Tisch Dance Company on Second Avenue after the explosion.

Tisch sophomore Tris Bucaro said despite NYU’s large population, students are engaged in the community and always willing to provide help when needed.

“I think that this act of generosity is very telling of the NYU community,” Bucaro said. “We have been able to show that not only can we bring awareness to a situation, but also be proactive in its recovery.”

O’Connor added that members of the NYU community have a responsibility to assist those most hurt by the massive explosion.

“Even though we are a disparate community, we truly are in and of the city, and members of our community both in the university and our city are affected by this,” O’Connor said. “We should all try to do what we can to help those affected and help our community get back on its feet.”

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, April 2 print edition. Email Marita Vlachou at [email protected].