The ASUC is hosting a donation drive on Sproul Plaza this week to benefit students displaced by Saturday’s apartment building fire on Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street.

The drive began Monday and will run until Wednesday this week, according to Student Action Senator Connor Landgraf, one of the organizers of the event. It will likely resume after the Thanksgiving break, he said.

“I hope the result is that we can tangibly benefit the students who have been displaced and help them get back on their feet quickly, because it must be really distressing to have your life turned upside down right before finals,” Landgraf said. “We hope to help in any way we can.”

A donation table will be on Sproul Plaza from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Wednesday. Donations are also being accepted online.

Landgraf said the most requested items for donation were clothing, cooking utensils, books, school supplies and small appliances. People can also volunteer to provide housing.

He added that the ASUC is also working on opening a PayPal donation account where students can make monetary donations to the American Red Cross to be distributed to displaced residents. The account should be open by the end of this week, according to CalSERVE Senator Sydney Fang.

For UC Berkeley student Pourya Khademi, who was displaced by the fire and has been placed in a studio apartment temporarily, the support efforts on the part of the ASUC and other organizations are moving.

“This ASUC support effort is the latest in a series of support that we’ve received and, frankly, people’s generosity just moves me to tears,” Khademi said. “This is really special to me because these are students. These are not people like the Red Cross whose job it is to do this. These are students. Their job is to go to class, and yet they’re going out of their way to help other students.”

ASUC senators have also begun to establish communications with the Red Cross to distribute the donations.

Landgraf added that he hopes students come together to assist those displaced by the fire.

“When someone else is affected and fellow students are affected, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to show Berkeley students how much we care and the ways in which we are invested in each other’s lives,” Landgraf said. “When others are affected by disasters, that’s time for us to step up.”

Comment Policy

Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.

Comments

comments