MAY 2008

U of W students, staff raise funds for Chinese victims

May 21, 2008

First-year communications major Xuelu Guo lost family members to the earthquake in southern China last week. She was comforted by Diana Kao, associate dean of the Odette School of Business, and UWindsor president Ross Paul yesterday at a charity luncheon to support relief efforts

University of Windsor students, faculty and staff helped raise money Wednesday for the victims of last week's earthquake in China by attending a pasta lunch organized by the Odette School of Business and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

People gathered around the serving table outside the CAW Student Centre around lunchtime, paying $5 for a plate of pasta. Many students made additional donations -- including at least one $100 bill -- which will be sent to the Canadian Red Cross to help with the relief efforts in China's Sichuan province, where more than 70,000 people are dead or missing following the May 12 earthquake and aftershocks. More than 245,000 people were injured.

"(Fundraising) is very important for us because we have a large percentage of Chinese students and faculty across campus," said Diana Kao, the associate dean of programs at the Odette School of Business and organizer of Wednesday's luncheon. "We're all suffering ... and we want to create a forum to share that suffering. We're here to support one another."

University of Windsor president Ross Paul was also in attendance.

On Saturday night, Windsor's Chinese community turned out in large numbers to show their support for the earthquake victims, raising an estimated $15,000 at a Chinese Association of Greater Windsor event.

Source - The Windsor Star