Students Collect Supplies for Kosovo

Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Amnesty International (HRUAI) placed boxes in House dining halls last week to collect supplies for Kosovar refugees in Albania and Macedonia.

Organizers said the drive for the refugees is a concrete way that students can help those affected by the crisis.

"I really thought that there was a need and a desire for students here at Harvard listening to the stories of the refugees... to make some sort of effort to lessen their plight," said Clara E. Brillemburg '01, co-president of HRUAI.

The organization is collecting money, canned goods, children's clothing-small or medium shirts, sweaters, pants, socks, etc.-and blankets.

HRUAI is working with the New England Albanian Relief Organization (NEARO) to ship and distribute the supplies. Brillembourg said NEARO is the only organization HRUAI could locate in Massachusetts currently sending supplies to the war-torn region.

An anonymous donor to St. Mary's Albanian Church in Worcester has offered to pay the shipping costs, and Romar Trucking in Allston has volunteered local transportation.

HRUAI is encouraging students to donate money, which will go directly to the refugees. Recognizing that students may not have much money to spare, organizers emphasized how far a single dollar can go in the region-buying about 5 kg. of potatoes, 3 kg. of beans or 2 liters of milk.

The money will go to GOAL, an organization founded in 1977 in Ireland to provide aid to developing nations. GOAL teams in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and South America work closely with local populations to teach them how to be self-sufficient.

GOAL has committed about $325,000 to its Kosovo refugee program in Northern Albania. Almost $50,000 worth of emergency aid has already been distributed, including tents, blankets, clothing, medicine and food.

HRUAI decided to work with GOAL because of its commitment to sending the full amount of donations directly to those in need.

"They send 100 percent of the proceeds directly to the refugees, as opposed to other organizations such as the Red Cross or UNCIEF, which have more exorbitant overhead costs," Brillembourg wrote in an e-mail message.

HRUAI plans to pick up donated items this Friday to send to NEARO and GOAL, with a second shipment to the organizations to follow two weeks later, according to Brillembourg.

NEARO has been shipping supplies to Albania since the organization was founded in 1990. NEARO president and founder Leon Lonstein said the organization currently has about 400,000 pounds of clothes in storage around New England that need to be sorted and packed before being shipped to Albania.

NEARO will be sending a shipment to Albania by boat this Wednesday, Lonstein said. Once in Albania, the supplies will be placed on trucks and sent to the refugee camps.