Author: Daniel Minguez
Until Oct. 10, Occidental students will have the opportunity to deposit their spare change in a variety of fund-raising containers throughout campus. This money will support relief efforts in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
The fundraiser, titled “Challenge for Change: Penny Wars” is the result of the combined efforts of the sorority Delta Omicron Tau, the Oxy club Rebirth dedicated to relief in New Orleans, and Occidental’s Roteract chapter. Elizabeth Cutler (senior), who represents Delta Omicron Tau, has coined the group “the tri-organization coalition.”
Following Hurricane Gustav, all three organizations intended to respond to the effects of the hurricane in New Orleans, but, as Rachel Stoler (senior) from Roteract said, “It didn’t make sense to have three different clubs doing the same thing.” Instead, the groups combined their efforts to put on this two-week long fundraiser. Cutler and Stoler are joined by Emma Keough (junior) and Emily Jensen (junior), who are members of Rebirth.
Karina Viaud from the Deparment of Student Life suggested to the tri-organization coalition the “Challenge for Change: Penny Wars” program that had successfully been employed at her Alma Mater, the University of California San Diego.
The fundraiser is a competition between class years and, in this case, some departments. Pennies are positive points, all other forms of currency are negative, hence dropping them into a competing class’ jar would lower their score. Class jars can be found in the quad at lunchtime. Department jars are located in the Athletics department and the Center for Academic Excellence.
According to Cutler, students are very involved. “I was surprised how people were getting into the class competitions,” Cutler said. “I heard someone say, ‘sophomores here’s some quarters for you!'”
“We hope to reach 900 dollars,” Stoler said, “which is only 50 cents per person.” All the money raised will be sent to Common Ground Relief, an organization whose mission statement is “to provide short term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area.” Stoler has volunteered twice with Common Ground Relief already.
A non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers, Common Ground Relief was established the first week after New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Their Web site states that they were “the first organization to open up a medical clinic in Algiers, and provide immediate assistance [food, water, supplies] to thousands of low-income residents unable to evacuate.”
On their Web site, Common Ground Relief focuses its concern on rectifying problems that existed in New Orleans before Katrina. The site says that 40 percent of the community earns under $20,000 a year, 70 percent of households are run by a single parent, and roughly 39 percent of the community is literate. The organization calls for “long term strategies to stabilize the community.” The Anita Roddick Advocacy Center in the Lower Ninth Ward, the poorest neighborhood in New Orleans, is a resource for victims displaced by gulf coast hurricanes. Staffed by Common Ground Relief volunteers, the center provides free legal and clerical services to victims who otherwise cannot afford them. The 900 dollars hoped to be raised by Oxy’s fundraiser will be put to use by Common Ground Relief to continue funding projects like these.
For more information on Common Ground Relief and how your donated money will be used visit http://www.commongroundrelief.org
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