The month-long El Salvador Earthquake Aid Campaign, which combines the efforts of almost every academic school at the University, officially has raised $1,732 to care for earthquake victims.
After a devastating earthquake Jan. 13, a coalition of University student groups launched the campaign. Saturday's recent quake, reaching 5.3 in magnitude, heightened El Salvador's need for aid from abroad.
The campaign, which has been active since Feb. 1, expects to collect close to $3,000 in the end, Asst. Dean of Students Pablo Davis said.
All donations are collected by the Alumni Association's University Fund.
The fund functions as a "fundraising arm that serves as a bank for various organizations raising money," University Fund Assoc. Director Bonnie Ford said.
All funds will go directly to the American Red Cross at the end of the campaign at which time the money will be "earmarked for the Red Cross of El Salvador," Davis said.
The campaign has succeeded in bringing together relief efforts from the College as well as the Darden, Law, Nursing and Medical schools. Organizations such as the Latin American Student Association, La Sociedad Latina, Omega Phi Beta sorority, Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity and the Latin American Students Association also are involved in the relief effort.
"This is a wonderful example of graduates and undergraduates working together," Davis said. "It's been a very positive experience working with the Law and business students because we never really get to see them," third-year College student Amanda Crane said.
Crane is in charge of the campaign's undergraduate student giving.
Camila Figueroa, the vice chairwoman of the Aid Campaign and an El Salvador native, experienced the earthquake's tremors before returning to the University in mid-January.
"People still have no food, no shelter and no clothes," Figueroa said.
Over 1,000 people died in the 7.6-scale earthquake that struck Jan. 13. El Salvador's homeless population now has reached 20 percent, she said.
During the past month, the plans of the aid campaign have changed because of an earthquake in India that occurred 13 days after the Salvadorian earthquake and a flood in Bolivia.
"With the other disasters, we knew our efforts would be divided," Figueroa said. "We attempted to combine efforts, but so many things have been going on."
It is not too late for students to contribute to the relief fund, said Raquel Chiquillo, coordinator of the campaign in the Graduate School.
"People need to understand that if you give only $3, it will go a long way down there," Figueroa said.
On March 1, campaign leaders will hold "Celebration of El Salvador," an event featuring University students' personal accounts of life in El Salvador, to conclude the relief efforts.
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