After realizing the enormity of the destruction caused by a natural disaster in their homeland, McCormick senior Shuyang Bai and Weinberg senior Julie Shen decided to organize a fundraiser at Northwestern with the goal of raising $1,000 in one week to help Chinese earthquake victims.
“I’m sure that a lot of people are thinking in the back of their heads that they want to help in some way,” Bai said. “It just takes someone to get it started, and then you’ll get a lot of help. It’s a good way to organize people and do something good for disasters happening in the rest of the world.”
Nearly 2,000 students and teachers died after being caught in schools that collapsed when the nearly 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit China’s Sichuan Province last week.
For the past three days, Bai, Shen and about 10 other student volunteers have stood by the Arch, passing out flyers and seeking donations from students, faculty and Evanston residents. The volunteers have exceeded their initial monetary goal, raising $2,145.11 since 7 p.m. Thursday.
As students walked back and forth past the Arch on Wednesday afternoon, Shen and volunteers Penny Yeung and Kosi Onyeneho, both Weinberg juniors, pulled individuals aside to talk about why their support is so important.
“I’m really amazed by the number of people who have already donated,” Onyeneho said. “Everyone’s been really energized the whole day.”
The set-up is simple: a single table with a small red box in the center where donations are placed. In front, a poster bearing the message, “We need help from the world!!!” is covered with pictures of the earthquake victims.
Shen said she and Bai decided it would be more effective to begin raising money immediately, rather than spend time planning an elaborate fundraiser. The sooner people donate, the more likely their money can be used to help people directly, she said.
“We’re just right here,” Bai said. “It was kind of last minute and we don’t have the greatest posters, but we got a lot of help.”
The volunteers are not operating through any organized campus group and are mostly composed of individuals who found out about the fundraiser after walking by the Arch or through e-mails and a Facebook group set up by Shen.
Volunteers are recruited mainly by “word of mouth, because everyone is aware of the earthquake,” Bai said. “People will just stop by and some of them will volunteer to help. “Even if just for like an hour or two, it really helps. The more the better.”
Bai said he hopes to gain momentum for the fundraiser from the heavy media coverage of the deadly quake that resulted in more than 50,000 fatalities.
“When I found out the earthquake happened in Sichuan, I wanted to do something about it since it was very close to my heart,” Yeung said. “I’m from Hong Kong, so for some reason I felt really strong about it this time.”
One of Shen’s aunts lives in the province where the earthquake hit, but was not injured, Shen said.
“As the pictures came out, it just got sadder and sadder,” Shen said. “It’s terrible … A lot of injured people were kids who were just going to school.”
After the last donations are collected today at 5 p.m., the organizers will figure out the most direct venue to donate the money.
“Every bit helps,” Bai said. “Julie and I are both seniors. I just feel like it’s a really nice thing to do before we graduate.”
