The Haiti Relief Day of Action held by Associated Students of Madison raised $7,765.25 in donations for the American Red Cross.
According to ASM Vice Chair Tom Templeton, WSUM’s dance party held the night of the Haiti Day of Relief brought in a considerable amount of money.
Held at the Majestic Theater, the dance party alone brought in more than $2,000 of the total, according to an ASM statement.
Templeton said though the donations have not yet been given to the American Red Cross, the money will get to the right people.
“We had people all throughout the day and considerable amount of volunteers, and the dollar amount shows the participation level in campus. I commend the students at UW and the community for donating their time and money,” Templeton said.
Overall, ASM Chair Tyler Junger said the day was a success, and shared anecdotes of generous students from the Haiti Day of Action.
Junger recounted instances of student who gave a $50 bill she received from her grandmother for Christmas, a faculty member writing a $100 check and a student who spent two impromptu hours in the cold on State Street asking for donations for Haiti.
There were several occasions when students threw $20 bills in change jars, Junger said, adding any donation was significant taking into consideration UW students were opening their wallets to those in need a world away.
While there was some reward for monetary donations, Junger said students did not seem to be motivated by the prospect of a return on their donation.
“We were able to give out receipts as tax donations, and they didn’t want the receipts because people didn’t want the money back, they just wanted to help,” Junger said.
He noted UW-Whitewater and UW-Milwaukee also sent donations to help Haiti.
Although he said the results were great, Junger said he would have liked to see more.
“[The Haiti Relief Day of Action was] something put together in one week, [and] we had to bend university rules to actually get it done. It was a great day and something great was done,” Junger said.
