By Robert Rossi & Sue Byun, Gavel Editors -

Since the start of the spring semester, Boston College has taken significant steps to raise money to help victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Between fundraising efforts at athletic events, door-to-door collections in the dorms, and donation tables in the dining halls, BC has raised a total of $13,192 for various groups assisting Haiti.

One of the most successful in terms of collections has been the Volunteer and Service Learning Center’s (VSLC) fundraising efforts at the BC-BU hockey game on Jan. 22, and at the BC-FSU basketball game last Saturday, as well as BC Dining Services’ Haiti Relief Point Drive, which raised funds for the Jesuit Refugee Service. Corcoran Commons, McElroy, and Stuart dining halls participated, allowing students to donate funds from their dining plans.

VSLC raised $2,005 at the basketball game and $4,687 at the hockey game. Student volunteers wore red shirts and collected donations in buckets in front of the concession stands as fans filed into Conte Forum both nights.

The money from the hockey game will go to Catholic Relief Services, the international aid arm of the US Catholic Church, and the money from the basketball game will go to the Jesuit Refugee Service, an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people.

“We’re trying to be a Jesuit university,” said Dan Ponsetto, director of the VSLC. ”And I guess I would just say this is an extraordinary disaster, so it’s our responsibility to respond and there’s nothing really remarkable about it. It’s what we ought to be doing.”

“For the dining point drive, we set a ceiling of $5,000 total for all three dining halls,” said Matthew Weidner, assistant manager of Corcoran Commons. “We reached it within 1.5 hours. I thought it would take a little longer, but the kids were so willing to donate that slow Sunday foot traffic wasn’t a problem at all. Personally, I wish we could have raised more. Dining Services could have gone above and beyond $5,000. We hope to do it again. I’ve had students come up to me and say we should,” Weidner said.

The lists of donors in the McElroy dining hall featured students who donated $50 or even $100.

“Everyone has seen the devastation of Haiti,” said Brittany Burns, A&S ’13. “And it’s nice to know that your money will be going directly to help these people. As a student you have your work and you’re consumed in your own little world, but then you see something on TV. I’m worried about my own petty problems, and they’re struggling to get water.”

“I had a lot of extra money on my food plan, so I gave $200,” said Christine Semanek, LSOE ’13. ”As a human being it was my moral obligation to donate as much as I could.”

UGBC has also undertaken its own fundraising activities through its dorm walks, an ongoing campaign that will continue into next week that sends volunteers door-to-door to solicit donations from campus dormitories.

Caitlin Hanley, UGBC co-director of service issues and A&S ’11, said, “Last week with the help of many student volunteers, we were able to collect donations tallying nearly $1500 from Upper, College Road, and about a third of Lower campus. We have been quite impressed with the generosity of the student body thus far, and expect continued success into next week.”

“UGBC is just as dedicated to the disaster in Haiti and making a difference,” said Nicholas Aigner, UGBC co-director of service issues and A&S ’12.

Hanley and Aigner coordinated the program in conjunction with other UGBC departments, ResLife, and the VSLC. The Haiti dorm walks raised over $800 in their first night on Upper campus alone. All funds collected will be donated to Partners in Health (PIH), a Boston-based non-profit organization whose mission is to provide “a preferential option for the poor in health care.”