Earthquake in Haiti unites Assumption College Community

Meredith Deacon lifts the cuff of her knit sweater to reveal several bracelets, but her fingers dance over to show off a single red thread tied around her wrist. She has been wearing the bracelet to keep the people of Haiti in her thoughts at all times."This is a cause that will be with us forever," said Deacon. "People are going to forget about the cause for Haiti eventually and I don't want to be one of those people."

Deacon, a sophomore at Assumption College, is amongst the student leaders who were impacted by the seemingly endless stream of images and updates revealing the aftermath of the earthquake that shook the grounds of Port Au Prince, Haiti, on January 12, 2010. The 7.0 quake left Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, stomaching repercussions that will take years to recover from.

"I can't fly to Haiti," said Deacon. "I would if I could. But seeing those images I can sympathize with the people of that nation."

While still on a month hiatus from Assumption College, Deacon and several undergraduates felt compelled to extend their hands and hearts to the Caribbean country immediately upon returning to campus. The group of concerned student leaders congregated shortly after a full day of training on the birthday of Revered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the "Hounds for Haiti" initiative emerged.

Hounds for Haiti set an initial fund raising goal of $5,000 calculating that if each student gave one dollar the goal would be attainable. After just one day of fundraising and already reaching nearly $2,500, it became clear that Assumption would shatter the set expectation. In a memorandum to the College on Tuesday, January 26, President Francesco Cesareo commended the students for the "swift response and great generosity." The pooled efforts resulted in the fund-raising of $6,300 over the course of just four days.

Student leaders from across campus took shifts at the information booth in Hagan from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday during the third week of January.

"We are in a position of privilege that we should not ignore," said senior Molly Eastman, one of several students who rose to the occasion of fund-raising for Haiti. "It is our responsibility to advocate for those whose voices are crying to be heard through all of this."

Eastman, a service director for the Reach Out Center and one of the students who initiated the beginnings of Hounds for Haiti, spent Thursday and Friday tying bracelets made of a blue bead threaded through a red string to represent the colors of the Haitian flag on the wrists of donors.

As opposed to some fund-raising efforts that take an enormous amount of creativity to compel students to donate to the cause, Hounds for Haiti had students coming from all over campus to give.

"Everyone when walking by has given change from their pocket or has promised to come back," said Carleen Roy-Butler, director of the Reach Out Center.

Roy-Butler organized the meeting of the student leaders who were adamant in starting the Haiti initiative and was a big proponent in organizing the efforts in a mere two days.

Donation buckets were made available at the Hounds' Men's and Women's Basketball games on Saturday, January 23, and Disability Services' Views from Our Shoes' on Monday, January 25. Shirts reading "Hounds for Haiti," donated by Student Activities, were also sold at the basketball games to raise additional money for the cause.

Sodexo Food Services joined in the initiative giving students the opportunity to donate a dollar towards Haiti as they swiped their meal cards in Charlie's. Students had the option to give up their lunch in Taylor Dining Hall for a day and give that money towards the fund-raising for Haiti.

With several ways to donate to the cause on campus, the thermometer chart posted above the information booth with a $5,000 goal rapidly moved upward to the grand total of $6,300.

"A check for that amount has been sent to Catholic Relief Services, an international humanitarian agency whose immediate mission in Haiti is to provide food, shelter and access to medical care for the earthquake survivors," said Dr. Cesareo in his memorandum.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), founded in 1943, has had a presence in Haiti for over 55 years. Stephanie McCaffrey, associate director of Campus Ministry, recognized the importance of ensuring that the raised funds would go toward a reputable cause such as this one.

"This is the official organization of the United States Bishops and I knew it would be an organization that our college would support," said McCaffrey. She and her spouse are no strangers to CRS, having supported them for several years.

Although many organizations, including CRS, have given Americans a gateway to easily donate towards this cause, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued several warnings against fund-raising frauds. Several organizations linked to Craig's List and spam websites have been uncovered, masquerading as charitable groups.

McCaffrey explained how important it is to take note of the amount of each dollar that actually goes towards relief. "Catholic Relief Services uses 94 cents on the dollar. You want to find an organization that donates 90 and above."

CRS ranks number 29 on the 2008 NonProfit Times Top 100. CRS states on their official website, "We meet all 20 of the strict Charity Standards set by the Better Business Bureau's charity rating arm, the Wise Giving Alliance, and have an 'A' rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy."

Relief workers from CRS have delivered frequent updates from the grounds of Haiti through the use of blogging and Twitter. Just last Friday, a CRS tweet read "Wow, what great support! Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. is fund-raising for CRS in Haiti all weekend."