Phoebe Tarta wants to make an impact with pencils, paper and crayons. The freshman pre-physician assistant major decided to bring Restoring Rainbows to Marywood’s campus this semester.
Restoring Rainbows is a non-profit international organization founded by a third-party group aiming to collect school supplies through fundraisers, donation boxes and events. These are then donated to both local and remote schools lacking in the quality and quantity of school supplies.
“I grew up in Poughkeepsie and the public schools were very bad,” said Tarta. “Most of the kids in my grade didn’t know how to read [or] write. The opportunities were just not there and part of the reason was because the school system was so poor.”
According to a study published by U.S. News, 32% of middle school students in the Scranton School District placed at or above the proficient level in reading, while only 8% tested at or above that level in mathematics.
“I feel like if schools could spend more money on different stuff and I could provide the supplies, they could provide more interactive and more educational supplies, then the school districts would greatly improve,” said Tarta.
Although the organization aims to collect supplies primarily for K-12 programs, it targets college campuses to initiate the donation process.
“With the students, if they want to get involved, that would be community service hours, it would be good on their resume. I know a lot of people are applying to PA school [and] I feel like the PA school would love that,” said Tarta.
As the secretary for the Pre-PA club, Tarta is partnering with a new club on campus: Colleges Against Cancer. Together, they will decorate and set up donation boxes throughout Marywood’s campus with at least one in each building.
“I think it would definitely make Marywood a very welcoming and very impactful school, [then making prospective students think], ‘Oh my gosh, this student is doing this and the faculty is probably amazing,’” explained Tarta.
Although Tarta is planning on transferring to SUNY Binghamton in the fall for its pre-medicine track, she sees herself bringing the initiative with her as well.
“I’m very passionate about helping people and I’m going to be a doctor, so I feel like me doing this, it makes me feel good,” explained Tarta.
Donation boxes will be set up by the end of this week and donations will be accepted until spring break. Collected supplies will then be donated to the local school district. For more information, make sure to follow Marywood’s Restoring Rainbows account on Instagram.
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