抖M女仆 Students Support Haiti with Relief Effort
The 抖M女仆 community came together to start a Help for Haiti relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
抖M女仆 student and Haiti native Esther Loude began a Help for Haiti drive on campus.
抖M女仆 student Esther Loude was devastated when she saw the videos and photos coming out of Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The category 4 storm ravaged parts of the country, leaving hundreds dead, and tens of thousands more homeless. She knew she had to do something.
鈥淚 am from Haiti, and my dad鈥檚 hometown there was really affected by the hurricane,鈥 she said.
Loude, a member of 抖M女仆鈥檚 American Medical Student Association (AMSA), gathered her friends and began a relief effort on campus, asking people to donate clothes, shoes, baby food and diapers. Adriana Bautista, president of AMSA, immediately jumped on board.
鈥淎s students, we are so wrapped up on grades, resumes and applications,鈥 Bautista said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to take a step back and realize everything we do affects someone else and causes change.鈥
Donation bins were set up around campus, and word of the drive quickly spread. When 抖M女仆 Athletics heard about the effort, they quickly got involved and made it a friendly competition. A bin was set up in each of 抖M女仆鈥檚 athletic teams鈥 locker rooms to see which team could bring in the most pounds of canned goods.
鈥淲e have a lot of people on the team whose families were affected by this,鈥 said Greg Joseph, a kicker on the 抖M女仆 football team. 鈥淲e care about our community and really try to rally together at a time like this.鈥
The Help for Haiti drive was such a success that an entire classroom in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science was filled with donations. Canned goods will be given to Food for the Poor, and other donations will go to the Haitian American Nurses Association to bring on a trip to Haiti later this month.
鈥淚t makes me feel good that I鈥檓 helping my people,鈥 said Loude. 鈥淭hey are not going to go to bed hungry. I feel like I have a voice.鈥
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