May 20, 2008
UW communities organize vigil and fund drive for China earthquake victims
A bus.
A big bus.
A bus stocked with food, water, tents and other things that victims of the May 12 earthquake in southwestern China might use to reassemble their lives.
University of Washington communities in the U.S. and Chengdu, China, have mounted a fund drive for earthquake victims, and the bus is part of the plan.
Additionally, the Chinese Student Association and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association have scheduled Vigil for Victims: Candlelight Fund Raising for China Earthquake Survivors. It will be held at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 20 (TONIGHT), on the Quad, located immediately north of Red Square on the UW Seattle campus.
Two UW-related organizations are accepting donations for China earthquake relief:
- The Foundation for International Understanding Through Students. Visit its Web site at http://www.fiuts.washington.edu/.
- The UW Combined Fund (http://www.washington.edu/uwcfd/index.html ). Donations may be made at its Web site or via checks sent to the UW Combined Fund Drive Office, Box 359200, Seattle, Wa., 98195. Payroll deductions are also possible.
Combined Fund donations will be available to international charities via the fund’s regular quarterly distribution. Foundation money will reach charities sooner, but as many people have pointed out, help will be necessary for a long time to come.
Donations will be passed to the charities named at the foundation Web site or used to purchase supplies for Chinese organizations working in the affected areas.
UW students Steve Margitan and Geoffrey Morgan, as well as UW Worldwide site manager Eddie Schmitt, all three now in Chengdu, are identifying local charities and their specific needs. They and others such as Steve Harrell, a UW anthropology professor who manages the exchange program with Sichuan University, are incorporating a nonprofit: China Earthquake Aid (http://www.chinaearthquakeaid.org). It help will funnel supplies directly to the charities.
UW Worldwide has for the last six years brought multinational faculty and students together for research projects. It has sent 78 American students to Chengdu for an academic year at Sichuan University, and about 100 Chinese students have come to Seattle from Sichuan University. Thirteen Sichuan University students have returned to the UW for graduate study.
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For additional information on donations to the Combined Fund Drive and the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students, contact Steve Harrell at stevehar@u.washington.edu or (206) 543-9608. For information on the Vigil for Victims, contact Ruolan Liu at (503) 997-6586 or ruolan@u.washington.edu
