Two AU students are looking to get more people involved in the relief effort in response to the Pakistan floods by collecting donations for the victims.
School of International Service graduate students Jennifer Clemens and Nadia Shah have teamed up with the Center for Community Engagement and Service and the Community Service Coalition to start a campus-wide relief drive for victims of the Pakistan floods that took place during late July and August of this year.
All donations will be taken to Helping Hands, a non-profit organization based in New Jersey, who will be responsible for shipping them to Pakistan. According to Clemens, this charity will ensure that all of the donations get to the right people.
The drive began on Oct. 11. It was originally scheduled to end Oct. 25, but the drive was extended to end Nov. 1. Shah and Clemens extended it an extra week because it has been a challenge to get the entire AU community involved in the drive, according to Shah.
She said that they have asked all of the clubs who are members of American University Community Service Coalition to donate a box of goods to the drive.
Shah also said that it is their first time doing something on AU’s campus so they are learning new things each step of the way.
Campus organizations as well as individuals are encouraged to donate non-perishable foods and hygiene supplies to the flood victims.
Groups and individuals can donate by dropping off materials in large drop boxes placed all over campus, such as in the SIS building and the atriums in Hurst Hall and the Ward Circle Building. There will be a box set up at the Diversival this Wednesday as well, Shah said. In addition, clubs are asked to donate boxes that are decorated with a note or picture inside to represent their group.
Clemens and Shah started the drive because they believe the disaster in Pakistan deserves more attention and assistance.
“We have studied intensely that part of the world in school so we have both developed an attachment to it and it felt like the obvious thing to do,” Clemens said. “We certainly had the power to do something, so it was important for us to do what we could.”
Clemens believes the flood disaster in Pakistan did not get a sufficient amount of media attention and foreign government assistance. She said that as a result of the floods, over 20 million people have lost their livelihood and 20 percent of the country is underwater, a natural disaster much worse than the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami in Asia combined.
“It was pretty emotional for us that there was not a greater response,” Clemens said. “We had certainly hoped to see the general American population rally for this a bit more than they did.”
Clemens and Shah are collecting ready-made food such as bottled water, granola bars, beans and baby formula. Clemens said the flood victims do not have any means of cooking food, so it is important that the donated food is as easy to eat as possible.
A full list of the types of donations needed can be found on various flyers around campus and on the Facebook event page.
news@theeagleonline.com
