Students Resolve to Help Pakistan
By Alicia Vajid
Aware of the flood devastations in Pakistan, Cal Poly Pomona's Pakistani Student Association (PSA) decided to find a way to get the youth involved in fundraising money for the flood victims in Pakistan. After seeing the news on television and reading the articles online about the damage and the hardships the citizens of Pakistan were going through, the students realized it was time to help the cause by reaching out to the community.
Launching the campaign of "Saving Change To Make A Change" the idea of collecting change from students materialized. We were conscious that every penny counts. In order to help make that change the first step was taken. Cal Poly Pomona's PSA hosted an Iftar Dinner on September 2, 2010 at Peterson Park in Diamond Bar. At this fundraiser, change was collected for the people affected by the floods. In keeping with the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan, the food served at the Iftar was cooked and donated by the board members of Cal Poly Pomona's PSA, and their families. It was a successful event as all who came were happy to contribute their change in order to help the Pakistani flood victims. It was nice to see not only students from Cal Poly Pomona, but also students from other campuses such as Mt. Sac, Riverside Community College, UCR, Cal State LA, and Chaffey.
"The Cal Poly Pomona PSA Iftar event was a great way to get new and old friends together to help raise awareness and funds for the devastating floods occurring in Pakistan," said Mayur Fazwani, an Aerospace Engineering CPP student. "It was also a great way to kick off the year and to show that PSA is an organization that is not only interested in promoting cultural awareness but also in extending humanitarian assistance."
Cal Poly Pomona has plans of continuing to make a change and for collecting donations, educating others about the situation at-hand, and encouraging others to help. These future plans include having on-campus fundraisers and informational sessions to raise awareness of the flood devastation and the resultant relief efforts going on in Pakistan; with our main focus leading towards spreading the news how we, the youth, can come together to make a huge difference. Through this we hope to get others involved, both Pakistanis and those of other ethnic backgrounds, to work together for this humanitarian effort.
For more information of Cal Poly Pomona PSA events please visit www.calpolypsa.org
