| AUDIO |
| • Kunal Mehta, a senior in the Krannert School of Management, tells how the tsunami affected his family in India and how he and others decided to help. (22 seconds) |
January 31, 2005
Purdue students raise $12,544 to send to tsunami victims
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In just 12 days, students at Purdue University raised $12,544 to give to the American Red Cross to aid victims of the tsunami tragedy in south Asia.
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Representatives of a student coalition today (Monday, Jan. 31) presented a check to Bill Lapcheska, chair of the board of directors for the Tippecanoe Chapter of the American Red Cross, during an event in the Purdue Memorial Union. The money will be sent to the International Response Fund.
"This is such a heartwarming gesture on the part of the students and the Purdue community," Lapcheska said. "The tragedy has kept the Red Cross very busy, and this check will be put to good use."
On the panel presenting the check were Timothy Jones, coordinator of the fund-raising effort and a senior majoring in industrial engineering from Evansville, Ind., and Aaron Schnur, a senior majoring in management and president of Purdue Student Government.
Kunal Mehta, a senior majoring in management, represented a residence hall organization that raised money for the campaign. Mehta's family lives in southwestern India and supplies diesel engine parts to fishing cooperatives that were devastated by the tsunami. He is treasurer of the Excalibur Club, a group of residents from Wiley Hall that raised $1,000 for the campaign.
Purdue Student Government, with support from the Office of the Dean of Students, coordinated the various campus groups that helped raise money. Groups participating included the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association, Mortar Board, Residence Hall Council and Purdue Student Union Board.
Money was collected from all over campus, including at the Purdue-IU basketball game, as well as from sites in fraternity and sorority houses, cooperative houses and residence halls. The campaign kicked off at the beginning of the semester on Jan. 10 and officially ended Jan. 21.
"These students have proven time and again their desire to act and their need to assist," said Pablo Malavenda, student government adviser and associate dean of student activities and organizations in the Office of the Dean of Students. "I cannot help but recall the tremendous support Purdue gave after the 9/11 tragedy, when student organizations raised funds for the American Red Cross' Liberty Fund."
From 165,000 to 310,000 people are thought to have died as a result of the Dec. 26 tsunami, which was triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean.
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Sources: Pablo Malavenda, Purdue Student Government adviser, (765) 494-1231, Pablo@purdue.edu
Joseph L. Bennett, (765) 494-2082, jbennett@purdue.edu
Aaron Schnur, (765) 494-7194 or (765) 714-1489, aschnur@purdue.edu
Tim Jones, (765) 532-8331, tcjones@purdue.edu
Kunal Mehta, (765) 495-5807, kmehta2@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Kunal Mehta (at left), a Purdue student from India, listens to Tim Jones, coordinator of a campuswide tsunami relief fund-raising effort and a senior majoring in industrial engineering from Evansville, Ind. The students were part of a panel that today (Monday, Jan. 31) presented a $12,544 check to the American Red Cross for tsunami relief efforts. The fund-raising campaign ran from Jan. 10-21, and students raised the relief funds in their living units, at the Purdue-IU basketball game and at tables set up on campus. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality photo is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2005/tsunami-tim.jpg
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