Panthers turn out to pack Haiti relief supplies


MIAMI – More than 200 FIU students, faculty, staff , alumni and friends descended on a Miami-Dade County warehouse on Sunday morning to sort and pack donated Haiti relief supplies.  So many Panther showed up that what should have taken all morning was done in two hours.

“I am thrilled and humbled by what we have been able to accomplish here this morning,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg, who together with  wife Rosalie and children Benjamin and Ginelle, led the FIU team in sorting, boxing, stacking, wrapping and wheeling out supplies that will be shipped to Haiti this week. “In South Florida we feel very close to our brothers and sisters in Haiti and the FIU community wants to help.”

FIU was contacted by Miami-Dade County officials with a request for volunteer help on Thursday evening. By Friday afternoon dozens of people started to sign up to assist. Come Sunday morning more than 200 volunteers  appeared at the Doral warehouse and cleared out about 40 tons of supplies that had been collected  at libraries and fire stations throughout Miami-Dade County. The supplies – food, water, blankets, medical supplies, clothes, toys – will be distributed by Food for the Poor and Project Medishare, non-profit organizations that are on the ground in Haiti providing food and medical relief.

Also packing supplies were several deans, vice presidents and two university trustees, Albert Maury and Thomas Breslin.

“I’m not just a trustee, I’m an FIU alumnus,” said Maury, who provided Leon Medical Center Health Plan buses to shuttle students from both campuses to the work site. “Anything I can do to help FIU and help our community, I do.”

Students responded in droves to the call for help:  some individually and others as part of Greek organizations and athletic teams.  Many said they had been looking for an opportunity to do something tangible for the people of Haiti.

“It’s at the heart of the FIU community,” said engineering student and basketball player Marlon Bright. “Always willing to help.”

FIU is organizing multiple opportunities to help earthquake victims. Please check the Hope for Haiti website for details.

Media Contact:  Maydel Santana-Bravo  at 305-348-1555.

FIU-

About FIU:
Florida International University was founded in 1965 and is Miami’s only public research university. With a student body of more than 38,000, its 17 colleges and schools offer more than 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations and law. More than 100,000 FIU alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU has been classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a “High Research Activity University”. In August 2009, FIU welcomed the inaugural class of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu.

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