Through April 19, a new student organization, “Disaster Relief Team!,” will be collecting donations to help the victims of natural disasters across the United States.
Jacqueline Berg, a graduating senior from Shelby Township, Michigan, who founded Disaster Relief Team! last November, said natural disasters are something that are completely out of people’s control.
She asks that everyone put themselves in a person’s shoes who has just lost everything they owned because of a disaster, and provide a helping hand as if “you were the one who was in need.”
“In a disaster, people hit rock bottom,” Berg said. “It sure would be nice to help someone out of that situation.”
Donations for relief efforts can be made in the Ferguson Center at the Disaster Relief Team! designated space outside of Starbucks.
Participating fraternities and sororities also have donation spaces in their houses, which can earn them Greek points dependent upon the number of donations they collect.
All donations that Disaster Relief Team! receives will be sent to the Disaster Relief at Work, also known as DRAW, warehouse in Michigan and distributed nationally from there.
Disaster Relief Team! is a support organization for DRAW, which is a nonprofit organization that was created following the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa.
“Our role as of right now is hosting donation drives for them, fundraising for them and volunteering with them when needed,” Berg said. “If we can, we will get student to volunteer with them doing cleanups and giving out supplies in disaster zones.”
The items requested for donations are specific and are detailed here.
If interested in becoming more involved with the project or becoming a Disaster Relief Team! member, email uadisasterreliefteam@gmail.com.