One UM-St. Louis student, who has lived a life of helping others, is desperately determined to organize a student service mission to provide assistance with relief efforts.
Jasonee Raglande, senior, communication, is hoping to get 1,000 students to be able to travel to Memphis, Tenn. to help the 10,000+ people who have been displaced from their homes.
Raglande said that she grew up with her parents, who were full-time missionaries and that her cousin's family was forced to relocate because of the storm. Having grown up in a household where community service was extremely important is one reason she is motivated to help the victims.
"When I first heard about the disaster it caught my heart. I tried calling different national organizations to volunteer with and some said that you have to be Christian or have certain requirements," Raglande said. "Some have different standards, but I have had many different ethnic groups and religious groups of students who have expressed their concerns with helping."
Raglande said that people should not judge others who simply want to help make a difference.
"In the beginning, I wanted to help, but I didn't have that much money or anything to donate, so I tried to get as many students from Washington University, St. Louis University and UMSL who were also interested in volunteering work," she said.
Raglande, a former resident of Memphis, Tenn., called various non-profit organizations with which she has worked in the past and ones she knew about from living there.
"Tennessee was very grateful and willing to help me," she said. "I was able to get corporate sponsorships from different organizations that would provide food and housing to the students who would go down there."
Unfortunately, Raglande said she has run into numerous challenging obstacles and red tape that are delaying her proposed volunteer plans.
She said one of the major problems is that many evacuees are stuck in areas all over and away from the rest of their family members.
"The evacuees can't get out. Another problem is that I think that everything in Texas is being mismanaged. FEMA, a federal emergency organization, and other groups working with the survivors are being very slow with helping out those suffering to get back on their feet," she said.
In less than a week, Raglande has created fliers and sent out mass e-mails describing her plans, and over 900 students have already signed up and are ready to get to work.
David Dodd, senior, international business, head of the Student Fees Review Committee and ex-marine who served in Iraq, is one student who is assisting Raglande and tryingto get more students to sign up.
"This is a really important time for everyone to try and help as much as possible," Dodd said. "Jasonee is very energetic and is a resourceful person who has done a lot of this on her own. I think that it is an awesome idea and it is impressive that she is trying to get students to go down there."
Raglande said she hopes the problems she has run into will be cleared up and that the students can help.
"Since there are so many people interested in going down there, we would have to get permission from the University and approval from the provost," she said.
If the students do get the opportunity to go to Memphis, they will be assisting with basic living needs, such as food, water and shelter, registering victims in the National Registry to find displaced family members, helping some find jobs and educating children. The duration of this venture would last one week.
The original date planned for the students to go down there was scheduled for Sept. 26, but Raglande said that if that date falls through, she will try to relocate all of the students to various organizations needing volunteers.
"These people are not refugees and need to know that they are loved and that people across America care for them and are trying to help them," she said.
Raglande said she would love to have faculty and staff members participate too in addition to students. If anyone is interested or would like to find out how they can help, they can email her at jlr4z3@umsl.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!