From Loyola Marymount
In Westchester, where eight of 10 students take on some kind of public service, a much-praised humanitarian has exhorted the compassionate to get down and dirty and to do even more to help the planet's needy. And, at the same time, some Lions are doing just that with a project that challenges them to transform the mundane into something more magical. Even as "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson praised his student audience for their volunteering, he told them they need to go out among the poor, to help educate them, to let them better understand their culture and vice-versa, and, most important, to empower them to improve their own lives and situations. That's the aim of some business students on campus with a novel fund-raiser to aid quake-ravaged Haiti. In their class, they must take an ordinary object and find a way to give it new, greater value. The item picked for this assignment? A paper bag. They're asking Samaritans to cut up that bag and to make a paper doll from it, then to attach $1 or more in a Haiti relief donation to it. They hope to raise $20,000 with their work, which has included setting up a Facebook fan page, enlisting the support of Trader Joe's for paper bags and getting school kids to take part by making paper dolls and getting grown-up donors. As for Mortenson, he is continuing his school building, writing and other anti-poverty battles in Central Asia, particularly in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Photo: Is this outline to cut up a bag into a paper doll a $20,000 aid to Haiti quake victims?
'Three Cups of Tea' author urges hands-on battle on poverty
Can simple paper bags turn into $20,000 in paper dolls to help Haiti quake vicitims?
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