Even though the Samoan tsunami has quietly left the 24-hour news cycle, it’s still a bitter reality for the islanders8212;and the U isn’t done helping them.
On Monday, U football head coach Kyle Whittingham said the team would be taking part in Project One Hope United8212;a teaming up of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the Student Alumni Association, the Polynesian Coaches Association and the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs to raise money for Samoan relief efforts. At Saturday’s football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, every entrance will have the opportunity for attendees to donate at least $1.
“It hits close to home for our team with so many Polynesian athletes,” Whittingham said in a statement.
Of the team’s 30 Polynesians, at least two lost family members in the tsunami that killed at least 165 people earlier this month.
The week before Fall Break, CESA shipped donations of money, clothes and medical kits to Samoa.
“This is the next step,” said David Kinikini, adviser of the Pacific Islander Student Association.