People around the world are searching for ways to send relief to the victims of a devastating tsunami that so far has killed about 150,000 people, according to The Associated Press, and left millions in need.
Locally, several campus and community groups are scrambling to pull together events to raise money for the approximately five million survivors of the tsunami in need of help.
One group, the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, has already hit the streets and raised money for an international organization operating in the affected regions. In another effort, students and community members have joined to form a Eugene Tsunami Relief Fund and are planning a fundraiser later this month. The ASUO also wants to raise funds by putting on a candlelight vigil for victims of the tsunami.
Kate Ritley, campus organizer for OSPIRG, said her group asked for donations on the corner of University Street and East 13th Avenue on Monday and in three hours managed to raise $425 for Oxfam, an international relief agency operating in the affected regions.
“Campus support for this is phenomenal,” Ritley said. “People are really generous. They’ll walk up and drop $20 without any thought.”
In an OSPIRG meeting Tuesday night, University pre-business administration student Susan Woodard suggested a “concentrated day of tsunami relief” on Jan. 18 for OSPIRG to raise more funds to donate to Oxfam, Ritley said.
“We’d like to put stations throughout campus where people throughout the day can put in as much or as little as they see fit,” Ritley said. “One of the ideas is to have it be kind of a ‘skip-your-coffee’ day where the money you would normally spend on a latté or something, you’d actually put that money in a jar to go toward disaster relief.”
Ritley said her group still needs to contact University administrators to get their “encouragement and support,” but was confident they would “recognize how crucial this is and how great the need is right now.”
OSPIRG also plans to contact University Housing to see if students’ excess meal points at the end of the week could be donated to the disaster relief.
Sat Pavan Khalsa is a local woman who was raised in India and is heading up a growing group of volunteers that gathered Monday evening at her south Eugene home to begin coordinating efforts to host a fundraising event.
“When something like this hits, we really need to look at ourselves as human beings and put aside differences,” Khalsa said. “We just need to help our brothers and sisters and form a united group now.”
At Monday’s meeting, about 20 volunteers decided to host a benefit dinner with entertainment and a silent auction. The relief group, which has received e-mails from 30 to 40 interested volunteers, is researching different charities that will offer long-term relief to tsunami-ravaged areas by providing health care, housing and schooling support.
Those at the meeting divided into three smaller groups to organize the different facets of the fundraising event. One group is finding a location for the event, a second group is researching charities and the third group is contacting
people to help donate to the event.
A few Indian restaurants from the Eugene area have agreed to cater the dinner. The group is talking to different artists to donate work for the silent auction as well as talking to local businesses to donate goods and services.
“There will be food, entertainment, a raffle, the silent auction and a slide show of the disaster area to show people what their money will be helping,” Khalsa said.
Leslie Brockelbank, who is volunteering with the group, said students can make the event a huge success.
“The most powerful tool is word of mouth and just passing information along,” Brockelbank said. “We are putting this fundraiser together quickly, and every person will help.”
Brockelbank chose to be a part of the Eugene Tsunami Relief Fund because it is the first local group that she heard of, but she was attracted to the group because of the cultural base and the diversity the group offers.
“There is a lot of diversity, but many people have Indian connections,” Brockelbank said. “It makes it much more specific about where the money goes. It’s neat to do this with a group that really cares about a particular place.”
After a meeting Tuesday night, the ASUO wants to collect funds for tsunami victims by organizing a candlelight vigil in the EMU Amphitheater, International Student Advocate Laila Taraghi said. At the vigil, set for the evening of Jan. 14, students could both show solidarity and give donations, Taraghi said.
Some volunteers were compelled to get involved for more personal reasons.
Volunteer Michael Carrigan, who is helping with the group organized by Khalsa, said he has traveled extensively through the areas affected by the tsunami, which helped motivate him to get involved.
“I have been to the areas that are devastated,” Carrigan said. “I want to give something back to the people who have given so much to me.”

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