A benefit concert organized by Georgetown students and administrators packed Gaston Hall Saturday evening and helped raise over $23,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Patrick Schmitt (COL ’06), one of the event’s organizers, said that many students felt the university needed to take a major step to raise money for hurricane relief.
“There was an urge to help that you could sense, and it had to be articulated somehow,” Schmitt said. “It was also important to do an event immediately while emotions were still running high and people were still motivated to do more.”
Georgetown University Hurricane Emergency Relief Effort (GUHERE) Press Coordinator Christine Fraser said that the funds raised on Friday and over the weekend totaling $11,576.60, will be matched by Nestle Corporation and donated to the Red Cross.
The on-campus organizations that helped raise the money included the GU Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union, the Senior Class Committee, the GU Grilling Society, Mask & Bauble, and the School of Foreign Service’s masters program.
GUASFCU CEO Ankit Bishnoi (MSB ’06) said that his organization has been matching donations to hurricane relief made by members of the Credit Union and will continue to do so in coming weeks.
“We’re matching our members’ donations made through October 1 both through our Web site and in our lobby,” he said. “It gives alumni a way to donate through Georgetown.”
Schmitt said that the donations raised from the concert far exceeded initial expectations.
“Our original goal was to raise $3,000 to $4,000, and we ended up raising nearly $5,000,” he said.
According to Schmitt, organizing the event was difficult, but students and on-campus groups were eager to volunteer to help.
“Basically every time we needed someone, there was someone there to do it,” Schmitt said. “It was a success because everyone in the Georgetown community stepped up.”
Volunteers sold roughly 760 tickets for the event in Red Square and at the door for a suggested donation of $5 per ticket.
Schmitt said the biggest challenge was “trying to get the word out,” but that classroom announcements and a campus-wide e-mail from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson helped.
Natalie Grillon (SFS ’07), a member of the Georgetown a capella group Superfood, which performed at the concert, said that she was contacted by e-mail a few days before the performance to see if the group could sing in the concert.
“There was no doubt in our minds that we wanted to do it,” Grillon said. “We had to have a lot of practice [last] week to get ready.”
The concert also included performances by the a capella groups GU Harmony, the Phantoms, Superfood and the Saxatones, as well as Ballet Folklorico, the GU Step Team, Gospel Choir, poets and comedians.
Students who attended the concert praised the efforts of the Georgetown community in raising money for those affected by Katrina.
“I thought it was really well done,” Alex Blaszczuk (SFS ’09) said. “It was a heartfelt tribute to the victims of the hurricane.”
Mark Rossetti (COL ’09) said that although the concert was a success, increased relief efforts will be essential in the coming months.
“[The concert] was fantastic,” Rossetti said. “On the other hand, I’m aware of how much is still yet to be done.”
In addition to promoting the benefit concert on Saturday, GUHERE, an umbrella group composed of students, faculty and administrators dedicated to coordinating Georgetown’s hurricane relief efforts, helped to organize a diaper drive.
Members of GU Right to Life, Knights of Columbus, HOPE, UNICEF and GU College Republicans traveled to five area Safeway and CVS locations on Saturday and asked shoppers to donate diapers and baby supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The groups collected a total of 10,518 diapers and 7,572 baby wipes, Fraser said.
