Students try to fill cargo container with donations for Haiti

It’s more than 1,600 miles to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from Bloomington, but a filled cargo container will soon shorten that distance.

IU and community groups are involved in the relief effort “Cram the Container.” It will take place 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the South Concourse of Memorial Stadium. It will collect donations to fill a 1,280-cubic–foot container which will be delivered to Haiti.

Items “urgently needed” include hardware supplies, power generators, sleeping kits and items with good endurance.

“The University president will cover the shipping cost, which is estimated to be about $70,000. So our job is to get the donation effort going,” Bradley Levinson, director of IU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies said.

Besides campus support, the surrounding communities have been helping as well.
“So far, our Bloomington community and surrounding towns in Monroe and Owen County have donated over $40,000,” said Sue Gulley, executive director of American Red Cross Monroe County Chapter. “We believe these generous financial contributions allow those experts on the ground to purchase and distribute supplies, medical aid, food and water.”

Members of CLACS, one of the groups involved in the efforts, saw an obligation to respond quickly.

“We have students from Haiti and other Caribbean countries studying here and we offer Haitian Creole language courses. There is a big connection between IU and Haiti,” Levinson said.