By Natasha Lopez, Erika Venegas and Gweyneth Angeli Legaspi, Courier Staff Writers
Leadership held a relief fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey victims from September 11 to the 22nd. They organized their fundraiser through Team Rubicon but failed to meet their goal of $3,000.
Team Rubicon is a nonprofit organization that has previously given relief to Haiti after the earthquake that took place in 2010 and is now raising money for those who were affected by the hurricane in Texas. It is run by the founder William McNulty.
Alexa Sass, the ASB committee leader, said that they chose not to raise the money through Red Cross because “they have not been donating all of the money to the victims.” This may be referring to Hurricane Katrina when international Red Cross officials reported to the New York Times that they failed to meet the needs of victims. Just recently Red Cross was accused of stealing donations from churches in Texas.
When asked why they chose to fundraise through Team Rubicon, Sass said, “We searched online and chose Team Rubicon because they seemed trustworthy and donated all of the money to the victims.” They plan to raise at least $3,000. “If each student at Logan donated at least $1, we could raise more than $4,000,” Sass said.
There are some students who have personally been affected by the hurricane. Junior Kristina Kakadia said, “I have family in Florida. They evacuated to Washington but luckily it wasn’t as bad where they live.” Kakadia said “It’s sad. I feel bad for them. Everybody should help in any way they can.”
The students who were informed about the fundraiser said they would also like to donate to the victims. “I feel sad for [the victims] and I hope they’ll be alright,” Mateen Mohammady, a 9th grader, said. “I know they are trying to reconstruct everything but not everyone has the insurance to do so.”
There are also many students who are oblivious about Harvey. 10th grader Jonathan Barva said “I don’t know much about it because I don’t think it really affects me.”
When asked if any of her teachers have spoken about it, sophomore Leizel Dela Cruz said, “None, I’ve seen the envelopes but my teachers haven’t talked about it.” She said, “I have not donated yet but I’m thinking of donating.”
Leadership raised a total of $1,318, almost $2,000 less than their original goal of $3,000. Sass said, “We’re sad that we didn’t meet our goal but happy that we at least raised some money to help out.” Sass said they are no longer restricting the distribution of the money raised to Harvey victims but are still choosing to have it distributed through Team Rubicon.