Despite an unsurpassed mobilization of funds to alleviate the sufferings of the Indian Ocean Tsunami survivors, there is a largely unfulfilled need to generate both short term funds and promote long term relief efforts. To gather the resources to effectively raise funds for a tragedy of this magnitude, several Stanford student communities joined together to form Stanford Students for Relief.
Our organization is completely student led and run and comprises of over 15 different Stanford student groups along with committed undergraduates and graduates. Members donate their time for free and membership is completely voluntary. We have strong backing from the Office of Student Activities and President John Hennessy, who has assured that he will urge the Stanford faculty and staff to join the students to match contributions to reach our fundraising goals.
Over the next month, Stanford Student Relief plans to work with the entire community and raise $100,000 for victims for the tsunami. Given the disproportionate number of children that have been orphaned, fallen victim to disease, kidnapped, or been otherwise hardshipped because of this disaster, we have unanimously decided that all fundraising proceeds will go towards Save the Children. The groups long term goals are to work with students, faculty and other organizations to create awareness about tsunamis and other natural disasters, and to promote research to create a better understanding of these calamities, designing early warning systems, and on mobilizing relief work with maximum effectiveness.
There are innumerable ways to help Stanford Students for Relief, both as individuals and groups. We urge you to contribute towards our cause (all donations are tax deductible), attend any of our fundraising events, and if you are not already a part of this effort, we request you to join us.