Dozens of students, staff and faculty members at the University of Arkansas are from the Joplin, Mo., area, or have family or friends from the area hit by Sunday’s tornado, and many people in the university community are looking for ways to help the victims of that disaster.  University volunteer coordinators are in contact with the American Red Cross and will be working with that agency to organize relief efforts on campus.

Here’s the latest roundup of campus-related relief efforts. If you have efforts to include, then please contact university relations.

Community Blood Centers of the Ozarks is hosting a blood drive on campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Friday May 27, in parking lot 67 off Razorback Road, near the HPER building.



During disasters people’s natural desire is to respond by taking action immediately.  The office of leadership and community engagement has been fielding many inquiries from students and staff looking for a way to help those impacted by the tornados in Joplin and now in our own state of Arkansas.

Angela Oxford, assistant director for community engagement in the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement, offers practical advice for those wishing to help:

Never show up to help! Only trained disaster response volunteers are needed during the first few days.  Response agencies do not have the capacity to serve victims and manage the “spontaneous volunteer.”  The spontaneous volunteer can often become a liability during disaster response.  Volunteering during a disaster can be a traumatic experience that requires extensive training.  Red Cross training is a minimum of 30 hours.  Orientation to be a Red Cross Volunteer will be held at Red Cross NWA  at 6 p.m., today, May 26 at the Tontitown office.



Send Money: Our first reaction to a disaster is to go to our closets and pull out our used clothing pack it in a box or pull out that box we meant to take to a local non-profit- we often believe it will be used by the victims of the storm who’ve lost everything. Please do not send “stuff” unless a response agency on the ground requests items – and send only the items requested.  Money is the best way to assist, supplies can be purchased and money can pay for the transport of the goods into the community. 


Give Blood: Local blood centers are taxed during natural disasters, it’s a great way to help and it truly can help save lives!

 Watch for volunteer opportunities during the rebuilding: Opportunities for volunteers are now becoming available for locations in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi you can see opportunities at: www.nvoad.org <http://www.nvoad.org> 


 

“At this point the best way to help the people in Joplin is to donate blood or give a check to the Red Cross,” said Angela Oxford, assistant director for community engagement in the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement. “In the coming weeks there will be other opportunities to help, but for now the best thing people can do is stay away from the area and let the people who are trained disaster relief specialists do their job.”

Aisha Kenner, the associate dean of students for student life, has emailed each student who was identified as being from Joplin letting them know of services available to them such as Counseling and Psychological Services.

“Faculty and staff are ready to assist you in whatever way you deem appropriate and necessary,” Kenner wrote. “We understand that many of you may have family members and friends in harm’s way and we would like to do what we can to be of support.”

Several students have responded stating they lost family members or property in the disaster.  One student from Joplin is heading back home on Friday and is taking donations of toiletries with her. Members of the University of Arkansas community who wish to contribute may drop off toiletry items in AGRI 220 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Thursday.

The University of Arkansas Bookstore is collecting non-perishable food, diapers, toiletries, baby formula, tarps, batteries and other items that would be useful to Joplin residents. They are located at 616 N. Garland Ave., and are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.

Although people are not encouraged to travel to Joplin at this time, there are other ways to help. The Northwest Arkansas area Rotary Clubs are collecting supplies at the Savor Restaurant parking lot on north College Avenue today, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The trucks will travel to Joplin on Friday morning. The requested items to be donated include: Gatorade, power/energy bars, personal hygiene items, toilet paper, paper towels, female products, tarps, work gloves, flash lights, and batteries.

Anyone interested in becoming a qualified relief volunteer can take the first step by attending an orientation session at the Red Cross of Northwest Arkansas headquarters in Tontitown at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 26. All are welcome and more information can be found at: www.redcrossnwa.org. 

University relations research writer Matt McGowan grew up in Joplin, and Monday he went home to make sure his parents, brother, relatives and friends were safe. He visited his old neighborhood and sent pictures and impressions in this Dispatch from Joplin.