From the left: Suyanto (Neighborhood Chief of RT 03 RW 03 Gebang Putih), Dedi Kuswanto (Neighborhood Secretary of RT 03 RW 03 Gebang Putih), Edi (Gebang Putih Village citizen), and Novianti Ika Sari (PDPM ITS staff) when donations from PDPM and the ITS Disaster Response team was given and received by the representatives of the community

ITS Campus, ITS News –In the midst of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease pandemic (Covid-19), the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) continues to play an active role in helping the surrounding environment. This time, it was the ITS Disaster Response team’s action together with the Regional Potential Study and Community Empowerment Center (PDPM) in distributing aid to the community around the campus.

This assistance was precisely aimed at residents in RT 03 RW 03, specifically the Gebang Putih Village, Surabaya. The aid given was in the form of 53 food packages, as well as 100 masks.

Project Manager of the ITS Disaster Response Team, Lalu Muhammad Jaelani, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., explained that the food packages and masks provided were donations. This donation came from donors who continuously and constantly provide financial assistance through accounts of the ITS Disaster Response team. “Therefore, this donation does not come from the Covid-19 ITS Technical Preparedness Team’s charity account,” revealed this bespectacled lecturer.

He then added that the donations collected were used to buy groceries, namely rice, oil, sugar, tea, corned beef, eggs, soy sauce, and others. These food packages have been distributed to 53 families through the aid post in RT 03 RW 03 Gebang Putih Village.

The donations received was in the form of 53 food packages containing rice, oil, sugar, tea, corned beef, eggs, and soy sauce

This Geomatics Engineering lecturer explained that the assistance was not given directly to the community in order to have the donation packages evenly distributed throughout the White Gebang area. In addition, this action is also a preventive measure to avoid having an out-of-control situation when directly distributing to the citizens. “Thus, for the distribution, we (ITS) entrust it directly to the administrators of the neighborhood (RT),” he elaborated.

According to Lalu, the Gebang Putih Village is one of the target areas chosen by the PDPM ITS Study Center. For this reason, in addition to being located right next to ITS, this area becomes one of the most special areas to get assistance from this Campus of Heroes. “Moreover, the PDPM fostered area serve as a mean for ITS to implement community service and takes the role of a living laboratory in the learning process,” he added.

Lalu then continued that other areas that are in need of help can also submit applications to PDPM ITS. Later on, the request will be considered further, and if appropriate, assistance will be provided.

In appreciation of the assistance given by ITS, Neighborhood Secretary of RT 03 RW 03 Gebang Putih, Dedi Kuswanto expressed his gratitude to ITS. Particularly for the full support of PDPM and ITS Disaster Response in lightening the burden carried by the lives of the people in the neighborhood. “We will now distribute these donation packages gradually, and will prioritize those who need it the most,” he explained, gratefully. (Dik/Ory/ITS Public Relations)