Smith Haiti Donations (Transcript)

Intro

It happened in just a few minutes. The city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti was turned to rubble. A hundred thousand people were killed in the January 12th earthquake. Here at St. Thomas University, students were among the first to do what they could. Emma Smith has the details.

Close-up of bake sale

A table full of baking attracts a lot of attentionStudents and faculty got to indulge their sweet tooth last week at a bake sale in James Dunn.

People may have enjoyed the goodies, but more importantly, they were given the opportunity to help a nation in crisis.

Interview: Michelle Twomey

“It’s been really good. People just sitting here in James Dunn, you know, they’ll be sitting working on homework, and they’ll just get up and walk over and buy a cookie or a brownie or something. So you know, it’s on their minds, and they’re really aware of it. As university students we’re not always aware of what’s going on in the world, so it really makes the point that we’re becoming more aware of what’s happening and we want to help.”

Archived Footage

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ripped apart Haiti’s capital affected around 3 million people.

700,000 people were left homeless, while others had to wait for news of loved ones trapped under the rubble.

Bake Sale Shots

Since January 12th aid has been pouring into Haiti and students at St. Thomas have come up with various fundraising ideas.

Last weeks bake sale pulled in over $500 in just two hours with the donations being sent to UNICEF.

Interview: Judy Coates

“And that’s why the students came up with the clothing idea-the clothing drive, because I knew that funds is what the organizations want first, but students don’t have the funds, but something tangible that they could do was the clothing drive and that’s going to be needed. So, I think what’s important is that people need to have a sense that they can contribute. Even if it’s just 25 cents that they donate today, somebody else donates a 20 dollar bill-it’s all equal in that it’s help.”

The university is making it easy to donate with bake sales, a clothing drive and a Red Cross booth set up in James Dunn.

Stand-up

Canada has been quick to respond to the devastation in Haiti.  The government has promised to match individual donations to eligable organizations up to $50 million.  Here at St. Thomas fundraising events are continuing across campus and students can keep an eye on the STU website for more information.  For STU Journalism, I’m Emma Smith.