The UP Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is still accepting donations
By Katie Schleiss
There's still opportunity for students to donate money to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. While some students might be interested in donating money directly to the Holy Cross Mission in Haiti through UP, others might be more inclined to donate money to UP students who are organizing grass-roots efforts among businesses in North Portland.
Donations for the UP Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund will be accepted through Monday, Feb. 1 in response to the depth of the earthquake's devastation, according to Fr. John Donato, C.S.C. As of Monday, Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund has raised $15,345.
"We want to give everyone a chance to donate, if they can," Donato said. "At that point we will begin to see what further ways we as the University community might be able to do more to help the people of Haiti."
Half of the donations will be sent to Catholic Relief Services and the other half will be sent to the Holy Cross Mission Center. Many Holy Cross buildings were destroyed in the earthquake.
Priests, brothers and sisters of the Holy Cross working in Haiti will be able to use this money for the rebuilding of schools, parishes and homes, according to Donato.
Students are also able to support the relief effort through friends of Molly Hightower, UP alumna who died in the Haiti earthquake. Allison Able, Adele Axness, Carrie Young, Macy Regasa, Alison Burke, Claire James, Jessica Shaw, Whitney Krebs, Jack Cullen, Jordan Hightower and Rachel Prusynski are collaborating with North Portland businesses for fundraising efforts.
In addition to selling T-shirts, these friends of Molly Hightower are organizing a pub crawl on March 27, during Hightower's birthday weekend. All profits will go to the Friends of the Orphans, and a Web site for this event will be launched soon.
"People can get involved with the effort by buying a shirt, attending the Pub Crawl on March 27, and attending other events that will be announced, including a night at McFadden's," Able said. "We are also taking donations of any kind for raffles that will be occurring as well."
Alumni Kyle Bunch has also organized his own fund-raising effort for earthquake victims. Bunch works at a small Catholic school named St. John The Evangelist in Plaquemine, La. He decided that he wanted to get his school involved in raising money for Friends of the Orphans in Molly's name.
"I offered a challenge to the students that whichever homeroom raised the most money for Haiti would get the chance to pie me in the face," Bunch said. "I have been completely impressed with their willingness to turn over $20, $30 or even $50 of their own money to children who they know have nothing."
