More than two weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, some ASU students are still working to organize relief efforts within the ASU community. Since the earthquake, student groups and organizations have been inspired to start their own fundraisers from a supply drive at Vista del Sol to restaurant-sponsored donations.
Some students haven’t been able to make large donations, but there have been big efforts. Third-year ASU law student Patrick Cunningham and his wife Amanda Roberson planned a dinner night at La Bocca Pizzeria on Mill Avenue near the Tempe campus, where 20 percent of purchases on were donated to the American Red Cross.
“We were thrilled with the outcome,” Cunningham said. “I was there for about 5 hours and it was packed the whole time.”
As a result of their efforts, La Bocca Pizzeria donated $1,000.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council Week organizer, construction management junior Brandon Taylor, is planning a supply drive for Friday on the stage at the Memorial Union in Tempe. Taylor is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha.
Taylor and others will be collecting items like blankets and canned food, he said, adding that he has a friend who is a marine in Haiti who has been able to tell him what the greatest needs are.
“The children there still have blood on their faces,” he said. “They’re very dirty and they’re pretty much bathing with baby wipes, so there is a great need for that.”
Taylor also said the children are very distraught and toys would help distract them.
Nursing junior Mayerlin Gradis’ parents are both from Haiti and she still has family there. Gradis plans to speak about how the earthquake has affected her family at the supply drive on Friday.
“My family is OK except for one of my aunts who has a broken leg,” she said. “They have no food, no water and they are sleeping outside on the ground. They all still need a lot of help.”
Gradis said her brother and father are planning a trip to Haiti in February to help their family.
“Because outside help is still being organized, we can’t rely on outside help to help our family. It’s survival of the fittest,” she said. “I’m concerned that my family, along with other people in Haiti, are not getting the essentials they need to live. It’s definitely painful to hear about.”
Gradis’ aunt isn’t getting medical care for her broken leg because supplies are low and hospitals are crowded, she said.
Nursing sophomore Bethany Blankenship said she has heard similar reports about conditions in Haiti and realized the need for medical supplies.
Blankenship is a volunteer with Project Commission on Urgent Release and Equipment, a nonprofit organization that collects unused medical supplies that would otherwise be thrown away and sends them to countries in need. She is currently trying to mobilize a group of volunteers on the Downtown campus to sort supplies to send to Haiti.
“Project C.U.R.E. has a backlog of at least 100 boxes of unopened medical supplies that are just sitting there because they don’t have the manpower to sort them,” she said. “It’s not hard and these supplies could be helping people who really need them.”
Through an informational meeting on Feb. 12, Blankenship hopes to organize 50 student volunteers to donate their time.
“This is really a simple thing,” she said. “If we all try to do just a little bit, we can really make an impact.”
Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu
