TACOMA, Wash. – In reaction to the human tragedy caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, University of Puget Sound students, faculty, and staff have launched a series of projects to help bring relief to the stricken area. Soon after the disaster, the Campus Haiti Relief Coalition was set up, along with a Facebook page that provides information on donation and volunteering opportunities. Among the actions so far:
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Student athletes wrapped themselves in duct tape and roamed the Puget Sound Fieldhouse during a Jan. 29 basketball game, asking fans to stick coin donations to them. About ten members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee participated, raising just over $1500 with the duck tape coin drive and T-shirt sales. The takings were donated to the American Red Cross.
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The coalition set up fundraising tables near the college dining hall allowing students to donate up to 500 of their meal plan points (worth $5) from Feb. 8–14. The points will be converted into cash and donated for a shipment of food and water to Haiti.
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A contest among the college’s ten residence halls has students scrambling to see who can collect the most items—such as soap, towels, and bandages—for five different relief kits. The kits are: health, bedding, birthing, school, and new mother. Sent through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, 100 percent of all donations will go toward aid efforts.
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Puget Sound’s Greek houses and the student Christian club Lighthouse are holding a Feb. 13 event at the Kappa Alpha Theta house to assemble 65 medical relief kits. The students donated about $200 from their own pockets to buy the goods. The kits will be donated to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
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The student group VAVA (Vagina Anti-Violence Alliance) is organizing a raffle to support women in these chaotic times by purchasing birthing and new mother kits for Haitian families. Students involved in the annual production of the Vagina Monologues are assisting.
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Christian Fellowship put up a table in Wheelock Student Center to raise money for the American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
- The Black Student Union plans a benefit event for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24 in Rasmussen Rotunda. Spoken word from South Puget Sound poets will be combined with an original film narrative on the history of Haiti. The aim is to cultivate a deeper understanding of the immediate crisis. Donations will be collected at the door
For the Facebook page of Puget Sound Haiti Relief visit: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&ref=search&gid=289716565008#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=289716565008