Remembering Our Three Winners

To honor the lives and remember the deaths of three alumni from Raleigh, the NC State community is encouraged to volunteer or give donations to a service project of their choice in coming days.

Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha were killed in an act of senseless violence on Feb. 10, 2015, by a neighbor in Deah and Yusor’s Chapel Hill apartment complex. Deah and Yusor, both NC State graduates, were enrolled at the UNC School of Dentistry, while Razan was a first-year architecture student in the NC State College of Design visiting her sister and brother-in-law at the time of the slayings.

In response to their deaths, NC State established the Our Three Winners scholarships and raised more than $300,000 for grants to deserving students who are pursuing degrees in areas that were important to the three victims.

Six students received awards of $2,000 for the 2015-16 academic year, two each in the Poole College of Management, the College of Design and the College of Sciences. Three more students received scholarships for 2016-17.

Here are some suggested ongoing charitable programs with an NC State focus that can facilitate volunteers:

• Build-A-Block: Friday and Saturday are designated as Our Three Winners build days. Sign up at the Habitat for Humanity of Wake County volunteer hub.

• Feed Their Legacy: On Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., the Islamic Association of Raleigh will hold an interfaith food drive called Feed Their Legacy to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Last year’s inaugural drive received donations that gave 26,000 meals to North Carolinians in need. Financial contributions can be made online to a virtual food drive.

Drop off canned food items and non-perishables between now and Friday, Feb. 24, to one of the three following locations on campus.

• Center for Leadership, Ethics and Public Service (CSLEPS) in 4111 Talley Student Union.
• Harris Hall lobby, sponsored by the Cashier’s Office, Registration and Records and the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
• Lobby of Brooks Hall – sponsored by the College of Design

Other opportunities to give:

• Secure online donations can be made directly to NC State’s Our Three Winners scholarship fund.
• Purchase Wolfpack World-branded T-shirts and coffee mugs at the NC State Bookstores, in partnership with the Office of International Affairs, at the Talley Student Union location and online.
• The Light House Project, a non-profit established by NC State graduate and Deah Barakat’s brother Farris Barakat to help support the organizations Deah was serving during his life, has multiple opportunities to give and serve in memory of the three alumni.