Little Angels of Alfred

                                      

In Honduras the 40% of the newborn babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) die on a daily basis from preventable deaths. The deaths are caused by infections. This is due to the lack of adequate sanitation. 56% of the babies die on a daily basis waiting for space to open up in the NICU.  The Little Angels of Honduras is an organization that was formed recently that strives to reduce the infant mortality rate in Honduras by assisting with the provision of optimal conditions for pregnancy, birth, and newborn care. The strategy that the organization follows has four parts. Provide, support, engage, and construct. Provide is assisting with immediate needs in hospitals. Support is national education and policy change about the issue. Engage is reducing the number of high-risk teenage pregnancies. Construct involves building a new maternal and infant care hospital. The vision of the organization is to give generations of parents the gift of hope and the ability to take their babies home.

Alfred State College Little Angles of Honduras club was started by Ashley Ebel. Ashley is a civic engagement advocate. The club is being sponsored by Christian Kyle Jordan Perry. He is the design team manager for the Little Angels organization. Christian is a graduate of Alfred State. “I actually met the co-founder, Christian Perry through EPLP. For blue level I had to go to a few different speeches on campus and only a few of us showed up to Christian's. I felt a connection because I had volunteered internationally and that is how he started all of this. I also had a connection with it because both of my younger sisters were born premature and it was crazy for me to think if they had been born in Honduras they wouldn't be here today. I really want to make more people aware of the problems and help this new organization grow so that they can continue to do the work they do and expand to making a difference in another area” Ashley said. The Little Angles of Alfred Club wants to raise money, sell t-shirts, get the issue out there, and eventually have mission trips to Honduras. The club wants to have drives for supplies. Drives would include simple things such as antibacterial gel, soap, newborn hats, gloves, baby clothes, bottles, diapers, and wipes.