Cultural student organizations team up for Typhoon Morakot relief effort

In the aftermath of the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in recorded history, three cultural student organizations have joined hands in an effort to help people who lived in the most affected areas.

The Taiwanese American Student Association, Chinese Student Association and Confucius Institute are teaming up for a relief concert aimed at raising awareness and money to aid those who were displaced, injured or otherwise afflicted by Typhoon Morakot.

Morakot, which made landfall in Taiwan on Aug. 8, caused mudslides and brought about the worst flooding to hit the island in 50 years, killing more than 500 residents, according to British news website guardian.co.uk.

According to BBC, after passing over Taiwan, 1 million people were evacuated from vulnerable areas in China, while the weakened, yet formidable, storm hit the country’s southeast coast on Aug. 9.

It killed five people, damaged buildings and flooded farmland.

“More [awareness] is what I’m hoping for,” TASA Co-President Maria Chang said.

The fundraiser to aid typhoon victims will be the second one in two months.

It follows an Aug. 27 event held at Yogiberry, a frozen yogurt store in Rockville, which raised $150.

“We packed up the whole place,” Chang said. “[Yogiberry] dedicated 20 percent of all the proceeds from one register to our cause.”

Chang, a junior civil engineering major, added that she felt confident that the concert will be successful because of the enthusiastic support it has received from fellow TASA officers and from members of the other organizations involved.

While the fundraiser has drawn considerable student support, a working professional helped to bring the idea to fruition.

The plan originated with Dr. Alan Cheung, executive director of the Confucius Institute at Maryland, who contacted members of CSA and TASA soon after the typhoon ripped through Southeast Asia, submerging villages in its path.

“Student involvement in organizing this kind of thing is also part of their learning [and] their education at the university,” said Cheung, a retired professor from the University of Maryland’s Baltimore-based Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy. “How often does a student get to do something [like this]?”

The first person Cheung contacted, CSA President Mary Feng, said that she hopes people and organizations on and off campus come to show support for Morakot’s victims.

“We’re not confining it to Asian Pacific American organizations,” Feng, a senior marketing and psychology major, said. “We’re trying to bridge the gap between APA organizations and other organizations on campus.”

According to Feng, the joint effort between TASA and CSA would set a precedent for political rivals China and Taiwan to work together during times of crisis.

The two countries have been disputing who should hold control of Taiwan for decades.

“From students’ perspective[s], there’s nothing to do but the good act itself,” Feng said. “The concert [will serve as] a concrete display of what we’re trying to do.”

All proceeds from the concert will go toward the victims of the typhoon.

The event is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. in Stamp Student Union’s Colony Ballroom.