POTSDAM -- SUNY Potsdam Associate Professor John Youngblood's intercultural communication class and the Ministerial Association of Potsdam are joining together to raise $4,000 to buy a soundsystem for the United Helpers Maplewood Campus in Canton.

A sound system in the mediation room at the Maplewood Campus would allow residents to listen to soothing music, enjoy programs produced and performed by visiting organizations. The residents and United Helpers staff do not have an adequate sound system.

The groups will collect donations of services or gently used items in good condition (except food and clothing). Donations can be dropped at SUNY Potsdam's Morey Hall, room 103 through Thursday, the day they will be auctioned.

The bazaar auction will be June 26 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the SUNY Potsdam Barrington Student Union multipurpose room, Barrington Drive, between Massena and Watertown drives.

“Interaction with others is vitally important at every age, but especially in our more mature adults,” Youngblood said in a news release. “Interaction coupled with music provide the elderly with a sense of companionship and interaction that allows their brains to be stimulated to ward off dementia.”