Our Efforts Can Make a Difference

Once again, a natural disaster has devastated so many lives and left unimaginable damage in its wake. As we monitor developments in Japan, home to several ODU students and homeland for many more in our community, let's take action to help her citizens rebuild their lives.

Old Dominion's Global Student Friendship organization will be hosting a candlelight vigil at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, on Kaufman Mall. In addition to hearing from some members of our Japanese-American community about the effects of the tsunami, participants can make monetary donations to the Save the Children Foundation.

I want to note the extraordinary dedication and compassion of student and Global Student Friendship President Kurniawan Foe, who contacted me just hours after the tsunami hit asking what we could do as a community to help those in need. Kurniawan knows all too well the devastating force of a tsunami. Just after he arrived at Old Dominion in 2004, the third largest earthquake and tsunami in modern history hit his home country of Indonesia and several others. His leadership in helping to organize our outreach serves as a model for us all.

Additionally, ODU's Center for Service and Civic Engagement is helping to coordinate a number of relief effort fundraising activities. It has posted a list of agencies accepting monetary and other relief needs donations on its website.

Volunteers from ODU's Chinese Language Club, Nichi-Bei Club and Asian Pacific American Student Association will be accepting cash donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the front lobby of Webb University Center. All money collected will go to the Save the Children Foundation.

I urge the ODU community to assist as it has done so many times before. It has been said that while no one can do everything, everyone can do something.