USC Students Fight on For Haiti
Tracy Oppenheimer | 2-18-2010 | Comments |
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The 7.0 earthquake in Haiti happened over a month ago, but relief efforts are still going strong. The USC chapter of the California Student Public Interest Research Group, known as CALPIRG, held an event today on the University Park Campus to raise donations for the poverty stricken country. Tracy Oppenheimer filed this report for Annenberg Radio News.Tommy Trojan is a popular recruiting area for student organizations. But today, student groups put aside their own agendas to come together for a common cause: fight on for Haiti. CALPIRG--a student activist group--teamed up with 8 other campus organizations to hopefully raise 5-thousand-dollars for Haiti relief efforts. Student CALPIRG event organizer Will Seeley said this is the first event of its kind.
"All these student groups are coming together for one cause, so why shouldn’t you," Seely said. "Like why can’t you one more time. Because students can, we have the ability to and all we have to do is spend a little extra time get a little more aware and donate $5 here and there."
Americans have sent more than 300 million dollars to Haiti in the days following the quake. But CALPIRG event coordinator Lucas Noble says, that's not enough for to counter the devastation that rages on.
"In our culture sometimes people think they can send a quick text to the American red cross and suddenly they’re relieved of helping a nation that’s in devastation," Noble said. "This country has been totally crippled. 3 million people are still without homes. We cant forget that just because CCC has stopped playing 24/7 clips of the nation that this country is suddenly solved and better and healthy and ready to go."
The groups aren't just asking for cash. They're providing incentives. The jo wang club is offering fortune cookies as a reward. And some groups are selling hand-made jewelry. And for those starving college students that want to donate in other ways, they can offer words of support. There's a table set up for students to send cards to relief workers.
It’s not just students who are responding, though. Tina Sanders is an active parent in the south la community who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
"I was just walking the track and I saw that USC is now doing their spill for Haiti which I think is beautiful," said Sanders. "And so just being a part of the community i decided to come over here and give a hand in any way I can. This is really a big global thing where it takes everybody to help one another."
CALPIRG is planning to have more Haiti fundraisers including an upcoming athlete auction at a USC fraternity house. So if fortune cookies aren’t doing the trick, maybe extremely buff men will.
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