Katrina-Rita-o-Rama

Do you think you're too far away to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita? Think again. There's something you can do right from your dorm room.

The Katrina-Rita-o-Rama Relief Race (KRRRR) is a fundraising effort to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that's easy and adds a little friendly competition. Carissa Sweigart and Andrea Kniss, pastoral assistants with Campus Ministries, are assembling care packages with the help from fellow students.

Each dorm is assigned a different item to purchase as part of the relief effort. Items include things such as Band-Aids (to be purchased by Elmwood), bath soap (Roselawn), toothbrushes (anyone who commutes to class) and bath towels (faculty and staff), among other items. The group to collect the most of their designated item wins a "fabulous" prize which will not be disclosed until it is presented to the winning team during chapel the week following fall break. As of Sunday, Oct. 9, the faculty/staff group is in the lead.

"We do not want this to be our 'project,'" said Sweigart, "but instead want to work with the many others in the campus community who want to find some way to help out." Sweigart does not want to take credit for the idea of KRRRR, but says that it is in response to students on campus who expressed a desire to do more for hurricane victims.

Once the kits are complete, they will be going to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) to assist in their efforts to help hurricane stricken parts of the United States along with other parts of the world recently hit by natural disasters. Kniss says that the final goal is to have 200 relief kits for MCC by Wednesday, Oct. 19.

Students can feel free to contribute in other ways as well. Monetary donations are welcome and may be given to the team captains (generally the resident director of each dorm) or directly to Sweigart or Kniss, the co-coordinators. Every $3 received counts as one item towards the contributor's team's score.

To keep updated on KRRRR's progress, check the chapel flyer each Wednesday or the 2D "Rain Gauge" in the Campus Center.