It has been over a month since the world was changed by the deadly tsunami that hit Southeast Asia. The destruction will take decades to repair, and bodies are still being recovered. Because of the overwhelming sense of grief and despair in the region, along with an unsettlingly high estimate of lives lost, many are asking what they can do to help.

Organizations such as the Red Cross and C.A.R.E. are veterans at providing help. However, in addition to these groups, UCSD students are providing alternative ways to aid by forming their own organizations and events.

Last week, students had the opportunity to donate $5 of their meal points to the tsunami relief at UCSD campus cafeterias, and from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, UCSD will be promoting a UCSD Cares week involving numerous volunteer and donation opportunities to help disaster victims. Additionally, individual UCSD students are contributing to the cause by conducting their own relief efforts.

For the creative UCSD student who is looking for a heartfelt way to make a difference, Project Patchwork is a unique choice.

Greg Buie, a junior Thurgood Marshall College student and founder of the project, was moved by the news of the tsunami and wanted to make an impact. Having spent last summer working in children’s homes and refugee camps in Sri Lanka, he said he now feels close to the nation’s people. He created Project Patchwork as a compassionate way to raise money for tsunami victims.

“I live and breathe everything Sri Lanka,” Buie said.

Fifteen schools, including UCSD, are participating in the program. With the help of the Rebuild Sri Lanka Foundation, Buie plans to collect decorated quilt squares, sew them together to form one large quilt, then unroll it on the beach in Sri Lanka when he returns there in three weeks. He will bring with him volunteers to help rebuild the Hambon Tota district of Southeast Asia, along with supplies and a scrapbook made by UCSD students.

“We’ve already raised over $10,000,” Buie said.

Donation boxes are stationed at Eleanor Roosevelt College and the Student Health Services office. To contribute to Project Patchwork or make a donation, contact Buie at [email protected].

Marshall junior Sunaina Gyani is providing students with another way to contribute to the tsunami relief. Gyani is planning a benefit concert in an attempt to bring the community together and raise money for the victims in Southeast Asia.

“I knew of people in bands, and a venue,” Gyani said. “I could conduct it, and people could play the parts.”

The event will take place at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown La Jolla on Feb. 16. Starting at 7:30 p.m., the concert will feature the bands Far From Home, Just John and Cassi Coulter. Presale tickets are $8 and $10 at the door.

All ticket sales and donations from the concert will go directly to the Seva Foundation.

“I just want to help,” Gyani said. “But who doesn’t want to help?”

For more information on where to purchase tickets and make donations, e-mail Gyani at [email protected] or visit http://www.seva.org.

For those students looking to donate to an organization, San Diego World Response is involved in a relief effort at UCSD. SDWR is a grassroots nonprofit organization run by students and professional engineers who dedicate their spare time to raise money for disaster relief.

Begun in 2004, SDWR successfully worked with American Jewish World Service to ship several tons of supplies to Haiti and the Dominican Republic after the hurricanes last year.

Twenty-eight-year-old UCSD engineering graduate student Ron Tamari is the project manager for SDWR. He is positive about the organization and its potential to provide aid.

“Every penny people give gets sent to a place,” Tamari said. “[Last year] we managed to get $35,000 of drugs donated from TEVA [Pharmaceuticals].”

Until the end of UCSD Cares week, SDWR will have bins located around campus at the Student Health Services office, A.S. Volunteer Connection office, CLICS, Geisel Library, Residential Life Offices at all six colleges and the Volunteer Connection table on Library Walk. They are asking for items such as iodine, gauze pads, rubbing alcohol, digital thermometers and latex gloves, which will be shipped to Sri Lanka with the aid of donations. Any of these items can be purchased at Student Health Service.

“We’re always looking for volunteers and help,” Tamari said.

SDWR will be collecting items and donations from the UCSD community until Feb. 18.