Students fundraise in wake of Haiti tragedy

Victoria and the Butterfly Thursdays performed at the Students for Justice Club’s benefit concert to raise funds for Haiti.

In response to the recent earthquake in Haiti on January 12, many students and teachers have been working together to raise funds for the earthquake victims.

A schoolwide fundraiser took place over the span of six days, in which students could donate money to Haiti in their third period classes. The school raised over $7,500 for the earthquake relief effort.

“[The fundraiser] is wonderfully cohesive,” Assistant Principal Cristy Dawson said. “It’s a whole school effort. It’s so empowering.”

The donation boxes were collected during third period and Dawson then calculated the amount raised. Updated amounts were read over the morning announcements the following day. According to Dawson, reading the immediate totals “made the urgency of what’s going on big.”

All proceeds of the fundraiser were donated to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF), an organization that supports the development of both economic justice and human rights in Haiti.

“The cool thing is that 100 percent [of the funds raised] are going straight to the people,” Dawson said. “That’s a big thing for us.”

Social studies teacher Seth Donnelly and English teacher Ryan Ikeda have traveled to Haiti many times to work with HERF on health, sanitation and agriculture projects.

“[HERF] is one of the most effective organizations in Haiti,” Donnelly said.

The One Dollar for Life (ODFL) club has prepared a fundraising kit that includes a fact sheet about Haiti, a call to action flier and public service announcements to aid other schools in conducting their own fundraisers. According to Donnelly, Haitian fundraising kits will be sent to around 500 schools in California.

A video announcement created by Ikeda was featured during Tutorial to spread awareness about the need for student contribution. The video, titled “Haiti Solidarity,” included images of Haiti before and after the earthquake. The poverty and destruction in Haiti aimed to show the Haitians’ need for support. Students were additionally encouraged to donate after watching the video.

For nearly two years, Amnesty International has been supporting the Society of Providence United for the Economic Development of Pétionville (SOPUDEP), a school in Haiti that provides education and food to children in Port-au-Prince. As the school and the surrounding areas have also been affected by the earthquake, Amnesty members created posters to advertise and support the fundraising effort.

The Red Cross Club encouraged students to text “Haiti” to 90999 as part of a national effort by the Red Cross to raise funds for Haiti. The Jew Crew raised $126 by selling cupcakes in the quad. The Students for Justice Club held a benefit concert at The Jungle in Palo Alto on Saturday, January 30.

“All the members [of Students for Justice] decided it would be a good idea if all the proceeds of the event go Haiti, because … people in Haiti are struggling to live through the devastating earthquake,” said Students for Justice Co-President senior Karim Poonja, who organized the event.

Through their combined efforts, teachers and students have raised thousands of dollars to bring relief to Haiti.

“It’s about [being] a better human being,” Dawson said. “It’s a global community. We need to care.”