Haiti Earthquake Relief

More than 100,000 lost their lives during the earthquake on Tuesday.

As we all heard, an estimated 100,000 individuals* lost their lives and another 3 million people were affected yesterday on our sister island of Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit 10 miles off-shore of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. As Haitians around the world and others residing on the island struggle to find their loved ones among the ruins and help save those who are on the edge of life, there is much we can do here from other countries. St. Maarten is home to thousands of Haitian immigrants, and among them, several are staff at AUC. I know of four students here at school who have family in Haiti. I give my thoughts to you and your family and loved ones in hopes that they are safe.

There are several ways we can help out.

First, AUC is holding a donation drive for clothes, food items, and other goods you feel will help our neighbors in need. There will be a box in the Rotunda throughout the week. Please come by. Also, as many of you know, the White Coat Ceremony for the new first-semester class will take place this Friday. At the after-party at Bliss following the reception, there will be a table accepting donation “entrance tickets” into the club with all proceeds going to the Haiti earthquake relief. Please come to the after-party — the donations are all voluntary of course, but it will be fun and it will be for a good cause.

It doesn’t take much to help. Every little bit will help. There are also several international organizations through which we can donate. Here are a few major ones I’ve found:

  • The Salvation Army

*UPDATE 2/3/2010*
The quake toll is now up to 200,000 lives lost. It is not to late to help out. Any contributions will be helpful. As of last week, the AUC student body has already raised $2839, which will go towards the Clinton-Bush Haiti Relief Fund. In addition, AUC is donating 150 jugs of drinking water from our Hurricane storage, and we have received a lot of clean clothes and can goods from the Haiti Earthquake Donation Bin in the Rotunda.