Hurricane relief update

By Morgan Steger
The Collegian

Twin sisters Zakiyyah and Khadijah Abdul-Mateen no longer have to share a single set of textbooks this semester.

The Fresno State nursing majors had returned one set of books to help fly family members left homeless by Hurricane Katrina to California. Zakiyyah said Fresno State’s Parents Association gave them the money they needed to repurchase the books.

The sisters had been sharing their two-bedroom apartment with their cousin Calvin Thomas and his pregnant wife Nicole, who fled New Orleans and now plan to make Fresno their home. Zakiyyah said the Thomases recently received an apartment of their own, with the first two months rent free.

Though their family members are getting the aid they need, the sisters are having trouble paying for their own food and rent because they used all their money to fly their family to California.

“They’re getting on their feet and now we’re struggling. When people give us money they say ‘give it to your family,’ and we do,” Zakiyyah.

The sisters are relying on their faith to see them through.

“I know God’s going to bless us. We have faith,” Zakiyyah said.

Fresno State senior Megan Stegee is a Fresno native who went to school at Louisiana State University. She transferred back to Fresno State after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and found out this week that none of the classes she registered for at Fresno State will be accepted by LSU for a diploma with that school’s name on it.

Stegee, who has only one semester remaining before she can graduate, said she would try to find other classes that would transfer.

Even though she was having difficulty with her class schedule, Stegee said Fresno State has been “unbelievable.

“I was a little nervous coming back here but the transition hasn’t been that hard,” she said.

Fresno State football fans helped alleviate the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina at the Sept. 10 home opener against Weber State.

Associate athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said $11,000 was raised in donations for the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. The donations were collected by student athletes manning booths within the stadium before the game and during kickoff.

“It was truly a cooperative process involving all student athletes,” Reed-Francois said.

In addition to money raised at the home opener, Reed-Francois said Allstate insurance company will donate $1,000 to the Red Cross for every field goal made by Fresno State, at home or away, for the rest of the season.

Chris Fiorentino, director of Civic Engagement and Service Learning at Fresno State, said he is encouraged by the multitude of relief efforts underway on campus.

“Sixty-five student organizations and classes have indicated that they are interested or are already actively involved in the effort and that’s what we want to see: a large number of students involved,” Fiorentino said.

As the director of CESL, Fiorentino said the fundraising efforts happening at Fresno State will benefit both victims of the hurricane and students involved.

“It’s not just about the money,” he said, “We want to engage the students in civic participation.”

Students involved in fundraising efforts at Fresno state include Delta Sigma Theta sorority member Ocie Parks.

Parks said she was pleased with the outcome of the fundraiser she helped start, Operation L.O.V.E., which raised $350 that Parks said was donated directly to the Red Cross. Though Parks had hoped to raise $1,000 she said Operation L.O.V.E. was a success because it “got the whole school involved.”

Fresno State’s Delta Sigma Phi fraternity hosted a live concert Thursday night to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Eric Meyers, social director for the fraternity, helped arrange for four local bands to play in a show produced by Cloud 9 Productions.

Myers said he hoped to get 200 donated cans of food and $200 by the end of the night, and at production time he had achieved his money goal and had 500 cans.

He said all the money raised would be donated to the Red Cross and canned food donations would be given to Catholic charities.

Students aren’t the only ones spearheading efforts to raise relief funds at Fresno State.

Sociology professor and Louisiana native Margaret Gonsoulin said she has sent four boxes of donated items such as toothbrushes and underwear to Lafayette, Louisiana. The items were donated by Fresno State students and staff.

Gonsoulin said as of Wednesday two of the boxes had arrived. She described how thankful her friend in Lafayette, who is distributing the items, was to receive them.

“She said it was good to finally have some nice things to give to people.”

The Kennel Bookstore is also among the many organizations on campus raising money for the Red Cross.

Kennel Bookstore operations Manager Curt Parkinson said as of Wednesday the bookstore had raised over $3,000 to go toward hurricane relief.

Parkinson said that for every dollar donated at the register the donator will receive a raffle ticket to be entered into a drawing to win a gift basket valued at $700. The Kennel Bookstore will continue to accept donations through today.

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