Donations to Haiti from My Generous School
On the west side of the University of Arizona campus lays a small building with big intentions. Inside that building, donations piled up for a country in a state of emergency. The donated items brought in by students, professors, and faculty would be sent to Haiti in the following few days after its collection. The International Student Programs and Services (ISPS) team at the U of A took charge in housing the donations until they could be taken to Worldcare, a local international shipping company.
Wednesday, January 20, eight days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti, the donations were ready to be picked up. A pile of first aid supplies, over-the-counter medications, blankets, dry rice and beans, baby formula and diapers stacked up in the entrance of the ISPS building.
The project started off small and just on the international students’ listserv. The ISPS office watched it grow as UA News picked it up. Since then, the office has seen a steady flow of students bring in donations bagfuls at a time, said Marie Willard of the ISPS.
“We just wanted to lend a helping hand, really,” Willard said.
At 11:30 a.m., one of the staff members, Joanne Lagassi-Long, had her husband, George Long, pick up the items to take to Worldcare to be shipped off to Haiti. All the staff grabbed boxes and bags and loaded Long’s pickup truck. They all smiled with pride in what good work the U of A had done for Haiti.
Willard pointed out the importance on college campuses of awareness of people, places and events around the world. With all the international students at the U of A, and some from Haiti, UA Wildcats have really shown through their efforts that they want to help out with the disaster.
Willard expressed her thanks to everyone that supported their Haiti relief efforts.
A list of ways to help is posted on the ISPS website. If you want to donate items, take them to Worldcare. World Care is also accepting monetary donations online.
**Thanks to Garageband by Apple for the audio in the slideshow.
Reaching Hands Across Boundaries 