Brandon Carroll
Update on Haiti 01/14/2010
 
Good Morning:

After sending out this e-mail to Hokies United, I received some e-mails from students that helped guide me on how the University and Hokies United should respond to the tragedy that occurred in Haiti:

(1) Hokies United wants to equip their website with the Click and Pledge component in order to accept donations immediately. From my understanding, students think this is the number one priority and that it needs to be done as soon as possible. I know that Josh Burnheimer (ffburnie@vt.edu) is awaiting to hear from VT Hosting, as well as a local company in the CRC on how we proceed from here. I understand there are a lot of questions regarding the logistics behind the website, the actual donation process we will have in place, et cetera, so expect to hear from me in the near future with further details;

(2) Hokies United does want to partner with Partners in Health (PIH), because it is a way to build off something already established; 

(3) Students do believe we should solicit donations from all angles. Chris Strock said (see attached meeting notes) that cash is needed more than anything, and it is from my understanding that Hokies United agrees. Some students within Hokies United believe that we should mention the text messaging donation in the University-wide e-mail (Text HAITI to 90999 to charge $10 to your cell phone carrier), as this may serve as a quick way to provide relief. I simply heard this as a suggestion, and I have not re-introduced it to Hokies United in order to reach a consensus; 

(4) I was informed by Jenny Borman (jcborman@vt.edu), who is a Senior at Virginia Tech, that she is organizing a fundraiser at Champs. It is called Hokies for Haiti, but I have added her to this message to give everyone further details;

(5) A student named Darius Emrani e-mailed and called me this evening to tell me about what he and others have been doing in Haiti and educating me about the health clinic they are building. I want to introduce all of them into this conversation to give the entire group more of an understanding of PIH and how we can work with them. Their names are Colin Glesner (cglesner@vt.edu), Maggie Morrison (mags2010@vt.edu), Dr. Theo Dillaha (dillaha@vt.edu), Tim Moore (tmoore@daa.com), Robert Oliver Parke Loyd (ropl@vt.edu), and Susie Frasca (sfrasca@vt.edu). Please inform us on what already is being done, as well as how we can proceed on ways to donate effectively and efficiently through PIH; 

(6) Bo Hart is meeting with Kevin Ayoub from Event Planning tomorrow to figure out what time/where we are meeting on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010. The reason the meeting is pushed back until then is because I want to ensure that all students are at Virginia Tech when this meeting takes place. Every member of the Hokie Nation is encouraged to attend, and the agenda will be sent out before the meeting takes place. Once details are finalized, please help me get the word out, so we can truly have a University consensus on how we should respond. We will also have collection points setup, but Hokies United will need help with volunteers to help work the booths/ensure we always have someone at the collection points; and

(7) Tomorrow, there should (John Dooley, please confirm this) be an e-mail sent out to the entire Virginia Tech community on how we are responding to this tragedy. 

Please let me know if you have any questions whatsoever. My cell phone number is (301) 802-9845. Feel free to call/text me tomorrow. This is not solely my decision; rather this is the decision of Hokies United, and I am coincidentally the one who is facilitating their wishes. Hokies United is a student-driven volunteer effort organized to respond to local, national, and international tragedies that may impact our students and our community. If anyone on here wants to do a fundraiser or do something on their own, you have my full support. 

I just know that we, as Hokies, need to respond as soon as possible to this unprecedented tragedy. 

The plan of action for Hokies United is as follows:

(1) Hokies United is partnering with PIH, and there will be a place for donations directly to PIH made on the HU website as soon as possible. The URL for Hokies United ishttp://www.hokiesunited.org.vt.edu;

(2) There will be a meeting on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (time/place TBD) to decide on what fundraising activities Hokies United moves forward with (T-shirts, Hokies vs Hoos?, Awareness ideas, et cetera);

(3) Darius, Nick, and others hopefully will educate us on Partners in Health and what is already being done to respond to the Haiti Tragedy; and

(4) An e-mail will be sent out with signatures from President Steger, the GSA President and the SGA President in the very near future.

I have never seen a tragedy of this magnitude in my entire life. I am grateful to be a part of the Hokie Nation, and I sincerely thank you for your attention to this matter.

For Haiti,
Brandon
 


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