Funds Raised for Hugo Victims

Hundreds of students danced to a salsa beat Friday night and in the process donated thousands of dollars to the Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Hugo.

All of the proceeds from the "Latin Rhythms" dance, sponsored by La Organizacion, the Puerto Rican students group, will be sent to Puerto Ricans whose homes were destroyed by the massive hurricane two weeks ago, La O members said yesterday.

La O has collected about $5 000 from the dance and from tabling in the houses, said Treasurer Jungie Candelaria '91. The figure could reach almost $6000 because graduate students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literature are conducting their own fund drive, said Tere Riera '92, one of the organizers of the undergraduate drive.

Hugo, the most powerful storm to strike the Caribbean this decade, left as many as 50,000 people homeless in Puerto Rico, and some observers have estimated property damage in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Relief funds have been donated from around the country, but Riera said that students had also offered nonfinancial support.

"On repeated occasions I had members of the Harvard community ask me about relatives," Riera said. "They wanted to make sure that our families and the island in general were okay."

The donated funds will probably be matched by either a Boston-based relief organization or another agency, Candelaria said. The money then will be channeled to the groups in Puerto Rico managing relief aid, Riera said.

La O members said that one bright side to the disaster had been an increased general awareness about the island of Puerto Rico.

"A lot of people became informed about the island's situation and got in a package a little about the culture and politics of the island," said Andres W. Lopez '92, a member of La O.

Latin Rhythms has traditionally been a fundraiser for La O. To make money for the group, La O is planning a second Latin Rhythms party for the beginning of next semester, members said.