HELP Raises $5000 For Ethiopia

In a recent Harvard dining hall campaign to raise money for famine-stricken Ethiopia, a new student organization collected $5000 in contributions from undergraduates.

Daniel R. Abbasi '86, organizer of the Harvard Ethiopian Life Project (HELP), said yesterday that the group's goal was to collect a donation from every undergraduate. He estimated that one-third to one-half of the student population donated money.

Abbasi and co-organizer Robert S. Coburn '85 said they will be sending the funds to a private hunger relief organization early next week.

They said they expect to send the money through the group that guarantees that all of the funds will be used for immediate aid to the famine-stricken African country.

Interested students at the Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government have contacted Abbasi about fund raising in cafeterias and dining halls at those graduate schools. The graduate school blitz will be before Christmas, the undergraduate organizers said.

Abbasi said he will also meet with President Bok and faculty members to plan systematic fund raising among faculty members and alumni.

"We don't want people to think this drive was a one-shot deal." Abbasi said, adding. "The famine is expected to be acute through next year. We hope is that people will contiune to give periodically." He said HELP also accepts mail contributions.

HELP is more than a money raising effort. "We wanted to foster a feeling of community action at Harvard, to pull together in this effort like in the blood drive," said Coburn, "and to provide an example and a challenge for other universities."