Have you noticed the chain of paper links along the staircase in the WLC Atrium? Here is what that is all about and how you can be a part of it.
As of December 2, figures for the devastation wrought when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8 are: 5,670 dead, 26,233 injured, 1,761 missing, 3 million displaced, 11.2 million affected. Nearly a month after the storm, these numbers continue to increase.
Aid is reaching the Philippines but the people who were impacted by the typhoon will need assistance for a long time before they can stand on their own again.
Several student groups, under the coordination of an Honors Leadership Class team, are raising funds for the American Red Cross’ efforts in the Philippines. Their project, Link Up for the Philippines, will attempt to create a chain of 2,000 paper links, one for each of the occupied islands in the 7,000-island archipelago. As the number of links grows, the chain will snake down the Atrium and then it will start around the third floor balcony.
For just a 50 cent donation, you can write your name, the name of anyone you wish to honor, or a message on a link. With each link, the chain gets longer and the evidence of WCC’s compassion for others grows stronger.
Each campus organization and some departments have their own link color:
CRU – purple
Criminal Justice Club – blue
SGA – yellow
Phi Theta Kappa – red
Male Minority Mentoring – green
Budo Club – black
Basic Skills Department – gold
Sherrie and Friends – orange
Public Information Office – pink.
Organizations will be taking turns at a table in the Atrium or you can make a contribution in the Student Activities Office in WLC, the Public Safety Division offices in Pine, Basic Skills offices in Walnut, or Public Information Office in Dogwood.
If you choose to write a check, please make it to the American Red Cross and write “Philippines Relief” in the “for” or “notes” line.
Thank you for once again reaching into your pocket and giving what you can. It is appropriate that, as we celebrate holidays at which we sit down at tables full of our favorite foods in comfortable houses, surrounded by our loved ones and friends, we take on this cause for a country that has lost so much. Thank you for “linking up for the Philippines.”
For more information on this project, contact Caleb Grant at wcgrant2636@student.waynecc.edu or Tara Humphries at tarah@waynecc.edu or 919-739-7002.
