CSM Student Engineers Thank Calvert County First Responders with Breakfast and Toys for Tots Donations

From left, HVFD volunteers Mike Eversole, PJ Mann and Robert Small pose with CSM engineer club members Joan Popoola, Asha Gaines, Nyah Christen and Pre-Engineering Program Coordinator Jehnell Linkins.

College of Southern Maryland’s (CSM) Engineering Club visited Calvert County first responders in December to thank them for their service, participate in their toy drive and learn a thing or two about how careers in engineering can support our country’s fire service.

Engineering students Asha Gaines, 20, of Lexington Park; Joan Popoola, 20, of Lexington Park; and Nyah Christen, of Brandywine joined their CSM club sponsor and Pre-Engineering Program Coordinator Jehnell Linkins to visit the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad Dec. 7. The club provided the all-volunteer department with breakfast, donations for their Toys for Tots drive and toured the station.

“I had no idea that engineers played such a large role in helping to design fire engines and squads,” said Gaines. “This has been a real great experience.”

“When I actually saw their forced entry demonstration, I finally got the solution to a problem I had been working on for days for my semester final,” said Popoola.

“These young engineers got a lot out of their visit to Huntingtown VFD,” shared Linkins. “It is important to our club that we do more than just focus on what we’re passionate about. We want to expand to learn as much as we can about our communities and how engineering plays a role in everything around us.

“We also strive to be service-oriented and service leaders,” Linkins continued. “These volunteers give to our community day in and day out. We were honored to meet them, and thank them in our own small way.”