Associated Students of Madison along with the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group helped inspire generosity on the University of Wisconsin campus in Thursday’s Haiti Relief Day of Action.
While ASM is still gathering the total amount of money donated, ASM Vice Chair Tom Templeton said he thought the numbers could reach well into the thousands.
“It’s looking very, very promising here,” Templeton said early Thursday evening.
One of ASM’s main methods of fundraising was setting donation tables all around campus and State Street.
A donation table situated just outside the Rathskeller was a hot spot for donations. UW senior and volunteer Ritika Batajoo said they had raised $300 between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
“I’m really happy with how things have been going so far,” Batajoo said.
She said a majority of passers-by stopped at the table, some to donate, some to ask for information on how to help and some just to promise to come back later with money.
A table on State Street was not getting as many visitors as the Memorial Union table. UW sophomore Derrick Krenke estimated only a few passersby were stopping to ask questions or donate.
However, Krenke and co-volunteer UW freshman Jasmine Jolitz said they were not concerned about the lack of people stopping.
“It’s a charitable donation and it’s your choice if you want to donate,” Jolitz said. “A lot of people have already donated (in the past few weeks).”
Even with the lower number of visitors, Krenke and Jolitz still raised between $30 and $40 in the first 20 minutes of their shift.
ASM also collaborated with local restaurants, asking them to donate a percentage of their revenue for the day to the Red Cross, Templeton said.
He added Zander’s Capitol Grill put a donation jar on the hostess stand, with the owner pledging to match all donations. Templeton said the jar has been out since last Sunday.
ASM and WISPIRG were not the only groups raising funds and awareness for Haiti. Student radio station WSUM hosted a dance party at the Majestic Theater Thursday.
A $5 donation was suggested, and with more than 400 people pledging attendance on Facebook, Templeton said the event could easily raise more than $2,000.
Even UW faculty joined in the spirit of the day. A group of UW faculty put together a lunchtime discussion titled, ‘Haiti: Perspectives on Crisis.’
Owner of Madison based disaster response agency InterWorks Paul Thompson said the earthquake was so damaging because of the nature of Haiti’s economy and infrastructure.
“In terms of the Haitian economy, this is a massive and devastating blow,” Thompson said.
He explained Port-au-Prince was “the nerve center” of the country, and with it so damaged, it became much more challenging to get aid to other cities.
Thompson also said the earthquake was devastating in the number of deaths.
The earthquake in Haiti was the eighth most deadly earthquake in human history according to Thompson, and with the body count rising every day it has the potential to move to the seventh.
