Fort Lewis College launching Haiti Earthquake Relief Campaign during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration

 

DURANGO – In light of the devastation in Haiti from the recent earthquake, Fort Lewis College is launching a campaign to raise funds for the stricken nation. The College’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Campaign will coincide with the Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. celebration activities that begin at FLC on Monday, January 18, 2010.

 

The College will be working with the American Red Cross and the Partners in Health (PIH) organization. The Partners in Health partnership is especially appropriate for Fort Lewis College as the co-founder of PIH, Dr. Paul Farmer, was the subject of FLC’s 2007-08 Common Reading Experience selection, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World.

 

“With the legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left for all of us,” says Mitch Davis, Fort Lewis College spokesperson, “we believe that the Haiti Earthquake Relief Campaign is the perfect complement to the College’s week of activities honoring Dr. King.”

 

Though the Haiti Earthquake Relief Campaign won’t officially begin until Monday, January 18, donations are already being accepted at the FLC Women’s and Men’s Basketball games.

 

Kicking off the College’s fundraising effort in a big way is a $10,000 donation from George Boedecker, the founder of Crocs, Inc. Mr. Boedecker is a friend and supporter of Fort Lewis College, especially the College’s Peace Initiative and basketball teams. His generosity will be acknowledged during the FLC basketball games on Tuesday, January 19.

 

Opportunities for the campus and community to give will be offered at all of the MLK events at Fort Lewis College, which are free and open to the public and run through Thursday, January 21.

 

During the United in Song event on January 18 at 12:45 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom, donation stations, complete with laptops and Internet access, will be set up for those wishing to make donations to the Red Cross and/or the Partners in Health websites. The stations will be in the Ballroom that evening from 7 -9 p.m. for the special guest speaker, Dr. Harold Bailey, and the performance by the FLC Men’s Choir.

 

On Tuesday, January 19, the donation stations will be located in the Student Union Senate Room for Dr. Jennifer Stollman’s discussion, “Bodies & Minds: How to Achieve Racial Reconciliation,” which begins at 12:15 p.m.

 

Cash and checks will also be accepted for the Red Cross, while checks will be accepted for Partners in Health.

 

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is sponsored by the FLC School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the FLC Office of Student Affairs and the Ballantine Family Fund. For more information, contact Dean Linda Schott at 970-247-7582.