Last modified: Monday, February 8, 2010
IU Haiti relief effort: "Cram the Container" on Wednesday, Saturday
What: "Cram the Container!" Hoosier Haiti Relief
Donation drop-off and loading dates: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2-7 p.m. (focus on IU community), and Saturday, Feb. 13, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (focus on larger community), South Concourse of Memorial Football Stadium. Collected items can be delivered to the cargo container.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 8, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Volunteers and staff from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University Bloomington will be on hand Wednesday and Saturday to help individuals and community groups load donations into a 1,280-cubic-foot cargo container that will be shipped to the Dominican Republic and distributed to relief efforts on the ground in Haiti.
The container is located in the parking lot off of 17th Street, by Gate 5, and is directly behind the scoreboard at the football stadium.
The shipping logistics will be facilitated by Charles Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and an affiliated researcher of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS).
CLACS has been serving as a collections site for relief materials since news of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake and has helped coordinate the collection for the cargo container.
The following items sought for donation are listed in order of priority and groups are "strongly encouraged" to focus collections and fundraising on these. Bradley A.U. Levinson, director of CLACS, said donated boxes of goods should be carefully inventoried, with the inventory clearly marked on the outside of each box. Different categories of supplies should be packaged separately.
Disaster relief and recovery items:
- Power (solar, generators)
- Temporary shelter, including tents, cots, stakes, mosquito nets, duffle bags
- Solar powered flashlights
- Ropes, bungee cords, zip ties
- Large water containers for storing, transporting, dispensing
- Plastic sheeting/tarps
- Batteries, flashlights
- Folding and camping chairs and tables
- Sleeping bags, sleeping pads/ air mattresses, foot pumps for air mattresses, blankets
- Sunshades and hats
- Cooking items, such as pots, pans, utensils, propane stoves (no gas), can openers, fire starters, paper plates/bowls/cups, plastic utensils
- Small fishing kits
- Extension cords and worklights/spotlights
- Hygienic and toiletry kit items
- Pocket knives, hand saws, multi-purpose tools, hammers, wrenches, pliers, miscellaneous tools, shovels, trowels, scissors, tweezers, duct tape
- Compasses, work gloves, clothes lines, clothes pins
- Sewing kits, first aid kits, bug spray, sunscreen, soaps, light sticks, matches, lighters, ziploc bags, aluminum foil, garbage bags
- Water purification supplies or equipment
- High-nutrition non-perishable food, including canned food
- Please note: No clothing. No cookies, candies or other low-nutrition foods. Please pack food items separately from all other items. Canned items will also be lowest priority for now.
- Medical supplies: Antibiotics, antibacterial liquid soaps, pediatric formulations, analgesics, wound care, bandages, needles and surgery threads, IVs, asthma medicine and tents, orthopedic.
- Please note: No small quantities of medical supplies, unused personal medications or expired products.
If organizers successfully fill the container and receive too many items, priority will be established and the overflow will be stored for shipment to Haiti in late spring or early summer.
For more information, contact CLACS at 812-855-9097 or clacs@indiana.edu. More information about IU relief efforts can be found at https://www.indiana.edu/~haiti/.
