NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (BVM) — Earlier this month, Hurricane Iota made landfall across Central America and brought forth a path of devastation. With Honduras being one of the countries severely affected by this catastrophic storm, native Carlos Cuellar quickly began relief efforts at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz.

On Nov. 17, the university announced that Cuellar was in search of donations such as clothes, shoes and other basic essentials so he could ship them back to Honduras. Thanks to a friend and the images he had seen of his hometown Santiago, the senior soccer player became inspired to collect resources.

“I didn’t even plan to do it until I saw a friend doing this in another state,” Cuellar said. “I started doing it because I saw pictures of my town, the houses and people not having anything.”

After seeing these pictures and learning about his friend doing something similar, Cuellar was able to get the idea off the ground by using social media. He even got some extra help from his head coach, Kyle Clancy, of the men’s soccer team.

“I gathered some pictures, wrote something on Instagram and started getting messages from people asking how they can help,” Cuellar said. “My teammate (Marc DePasquale) told me to go to our coach and ask for help.”

Once Clancy heard of Cuellar’s idea to help those in need, he was fully onboard with anything he could do to help. In fact, Cuellar’s actions say a lot about what kind of person he is and have also left a lasting impression on the coach.

“I can tell you I’m not surprised by it,” Clancy said. “He’s got that personality, attitude and desire to want to give back to anybody. He cares a lot about others and wants to support others as much as he can.”

Along with the way he conducts himself off the field, Cuellar continues to grow on the field following his transfer from a local community college. 

“There’s very few people that have a work ethic like he’s got,” Clancy said. “If he struggles at something, he’s just going to continue to work, work and work until he improves at it, gets better and has an impact.”

Since Cuellar has taken the initiative to help with relief efforts at New Paltz, he’s received numerous messages from teammates, student-athletes and anyone else in the surrounding community asking how they can get involved.

“People have reached out to me asking where to go and donate,” Cuellar said. “Some of my teammates have told me they want to come help pack stuff and I’ve given them specific dates to come.”

On a personal level, Hurricane Iota has impacted some of Cuellar’s family members who are currently living in Honduras as they recover from the aftermath of the storm.

“My family had to get out of their houses because of the water being in their house,” Cuellar said. “The town where I’m from doesn’t have energy and the main road that connects one town to another is destroyed. They don’t have access to anything right now.”

With something like this literally hitting home for Cuellar, he wants to make sure that the children in Honduras are being taken care of. The photos he’s seen of these kids have provoked him to contribute however he can.

“Mainly I’m doing this because I saw kids on the streets without parents and they don’t have anything on them,” Cuellar said. “I needed to do something and gather clothes or whatever I can to send down there.”

Up until Nov. 22, Cuellar collected essential donations through New Paltz and was able to send them back to Honduras. Along with his original post on Instagram being shared, the school also provided him with additional recognition of his efforts. As a result, Cuellar obtained plenty of donations to help this cause.

“Over 60 people donated and this is just people that contacted me directly,” Cuellar said. “I was able to collect a total of 30 boxes containing food, clothes and other essentials.”

The outpouring of support has touched the Hawks forward as people are continuing to message Cuellar seeing if they can still help.

“I’m still getting messages from people asking me if they can help in any way possible,” Cuellar said. “This means a lot because it showed me how New Paltz can be when you need them. I’m grateful to everyone who helped me and I want them to know that this will help someone get back on their feet.”

Although the Nov. 22 date was the final day that Cuellar collected items at the college, there are still plenty of other ways to help and get involved with relief efforts. Even after he’s already sent these materials back to Honduras, people are continuing to ask how they offer their time.

“I would say look into the Red Cross and see if they have their own thing going on,” Cuellar said. Other Spanish channels like Telemundo have available lines and you can call to donate.”

A fan?

Follow your favorite teams