In wake of Hurricane Sandy, seniors Bridget Battaglia, Kayla Howell and Jordan Kral stepped up to turn what began as a class campaign into a successful on-campus event, all in the spirit of giving.

The program, “Learning How to Give,” drew a crowd to the Murphy film room as Iona students and faculty were given a personal lesson on making educated donations.

“Whether you’re giving to Hurricane Sandy relief, or any other cause, you need to be informed about how your time and money is being used,” said Howell. “What we are really promoting today is informed giving. We want to teach students about how to research an organization before they donate their money or time to it.”

Research is the key to making smart donations, according to the students who also agree there is plenty to be done in wake of superstorm Sandy. The seniors used the disaster as a stepping-stone for their event, stemming from Battaglia’s first-hand experience as a Rockaway native.

“We thought it would be great to do an event where we taught people to give of themselves without having to spend anything, if that is what they chose,” she said, noting the group’s reluctance to force participants to spend money at the program.

Despite the event’s lack of direct funding to Hurricane Sandy relief, Battaglia believes that participants were “positive and inquisitive” about donating themselves and what they could do to give back.

Battaglia has participated in on and off-campus Sandy relief efforts and has witnessed the impact of donating in her own backyard and in her local church. The three students’ main concern was teaching event-goers the importance of knowing where their donations were really going.

Sandy wasn’t the only cause that hit home.

Battaglia’s classmates also spoke of causes that were near to their hearts, including, but not limited to digital media donating, reputable cancer foundations and the strife of child soldiers.

Tribute was paid to the good deeds of non-Sandy related charities such as Amazima Ministries, working to aid communities in Uganda as well as Catalina’s Gift, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families struggling with child cancer.

Another goal of the group was to spread the word and better promote education in Uganda. They began their own charitable efforts by selling backpacks to raise money for the cause prior to “Learning How to Give.”

The students did not forget the ongoing efforts made by Iona students themselves in giving back.

Credit was given to on-campus organizations such as Campus Ministries, who are constantly playing their part and the Iona College Players, who sponsored “A Very Merry Cabaret” the same night as the event. All proceeds of “A Very Merry Cabaret” were given directly to Hurricane Sandy relief.

The students were pleased with the turnout of their event but hope to continue their efforts in educated charity-work in future programs like this.