Community hopes to help,
joins in Red Cross effort
By Kelsey VanArsdall
Staff
Writer
Citizens of the Greater Lafayette area are finding
ways other than donating blood to help restore the human spirit that
was tainted by Tuesdays events.
Some organizations around campus have started funds
that will go to help the citizens in New York that were directly affected,
while others are performing small gestures of patriotism and hope to
lift the student resolve.
Three members of the Hospitality, Tourism, Management
Society lined the walk ways on the Memorial Mall with American flags
as passerby's thanked them for what they were doing. Jenny Beasley,
a junior in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences, said they were
placing the 200 flags — donated by the American Legion — around
the mall to simply do their part. The three had not planned on placing
the flags on Thursday, but were asked to by an adviser.
"It's the only thing we can do to help out and
lift morale and spirit," Beasley said.
Kate Targett, a junior in the School of Liberal
Arts, who walked through, said, "I think it's a really good idea."
She said it shows that the campus can come together
to support the victims and their families.
Many students are helping by donating to the American
Red Cross.
Due to national regulations it is impossible to
get supplies like food and clothing to the citizens of New York, so
the best thing for those who want to help is to donate money.
"We have heard there are over 22 million people
that are homeless in New York so since they can't easily store supplies,
monetary donations will be gladly accepted," said Jeri Rusk, the emergency
services director at The American Red Cross.
Four Greek houses Delta Tau Delta, Beta Theta Pi,
Chi Omega and Kappa Kappa Gamma started a fund for the Red Cross. They
began accepting donations on Wednesday at 1 p.m. and within two and
a half-hours had already received approximately $1,200.
"We wanted to do something that could really make
a difference for those people in New York so we decided on the spur
of the moment to start a fund with the Red Cross," said Todd Coble,
a junior in the School of Science. "We hope to involve the whole Greek
system."
The fund will continue from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today
between the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall and the Purdue Mall.
The Purdue Fire Department will also be working
with the Red Cross to help raise money. Local firefighters also added
to the memorial outside of the department that was started by some students
late Wednesday night. The flag flies at half-mast and at the bottom
of the pole lies some fire equipment.
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