A violent earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on struck the island of Haiti on Jan. 12, causing a crowded hospital to collapse, leveling countless shantytown dwellings and bringing even more suffering to a nation that was already one of the the hemisphere’s poorest and most disaster-prone.

The United States is among the countries that is dedicating humanitarian aid to Haiti, and the movement is being echoed across the country on college campuses, including De Anza College, said President Brian Murphy. “I sent out a message to all the teachers and faculty to donate to major organizations working to give relief in Haiti,” Murphy said.

The De Anza College Web site has a list of Web sites people can donate through, he said. Beyond that, the school is not making a coordinated effort to raise money at the moment,.

“We do have a connection to some primary schools that collapsed in Port-au-Prince … we are thinking about having a fundraiser or a fundraiser dinner to raise money for the educational system.”

Murphy isn’t the only one thinking about how to help. The De Anza nursing program, Student Nurse Organization, has been collecting money in a jar to donate to World Vision.

SNO Adviser, Jean Burke, said, “We were collecting money to donate to World Vision when the earthquake hit, so we expanded it to World Vision Haiti, and have raised over $150.” If students or faculty are interested in putting money into the jar, it is available in the Nursing Skills Lab in S-83, she said.

De Anza College clubs have coordinated to raise awareness and donations. The South Asians for Peace Club is teaming up with the Law Association to put together a fundraising event that will run from Feb. 2-4 in the main quad, and will raise funds for Haiti relief efforts.

According to SAFP President Tamanna Noyon, they wanted to do a joint effort with another club in a week-long series of events “to raise awareness of the critical situation, and raise money to help support the people of Haiti and the reconstruction effort.”

“We will have tables that talk about Haiti, what happened there, and where and how people can donate money,” Law Association President Sharon Su said. “I just want people to donate whatever they can give, and it does not matter where the earthquake happens, people are dying and we need to help them.”

“It is impossible to estimate how much our faculty, staff and students have contributed already as the venues are numerous and diverse,” Director of Marketing and Communications, Marisa Spatafore said. However there is no doubt that everybody on the De Anza campus will donate generously, she said.

For those who are interested in donating money for Haiti, a list has been provided on the De Anza College Web site at www.deanza.edu/president/message2010jan14.html.

Donations can also be made by text message by texting “Haiti” to 90999. A reply will prompt the confirmation of a $10 donation (through your phone bill) to the Red Cross for Haitian relief efforts.