And then Haiti needed our help…

The charities for Rag week have been decided upon by the Students’ Union.

This year’s chosen charities are the DCU student assistance fund, Special Olympics Ireland, Alan Kerins African project and the Unicef Haiti appeal. The fundraising drive will start in week three of this semester.

Last year, the event fell short of its €17,000 target with the week only managing to raise €7,000 for charity.

While the Students’ Union has not yet disclosed plans for Rag week 2010, they are urging all students to get involved.

SU education and welfare officer John Murphy told the College View: “They can contact any one of us in the SU - we really want to get people involved this year and we’d love for people to volunteer and help out even if it’s only a small amount.”

DCU’s own Annual Fund, which channels money into the student assistance fund, is increasingly relying on assistance from events such as DCU Rag week.

The number of applicants jumped from 266 in 2008 to 434 in 2009 and numbers are expected to remain on the increase as students struggle to meet the cost of living.

The student assistance fund which is run from the Student Advice Centre exists to aid these students who find themselves in financial difficulty during the year.

Special Olympics Ireland, which has a special partnership with DCU after signing a unique memorandum of understanding at the college last June said that they were “delighted having been chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the money raised during DCU’s Rag Week.”

According to the charity, “The money raised through DCU’s Rag week will go a long way to helping us to deliver top class sporting competition for the 1,900 athletes who will participate in the games taking place in Limerick this June.”

International charities also remained a focus this year with the Alan Kerins African project set to benefit from a share of the money raised.

The focus of the charity is on the establishment of a youth sports and resource centre in Kaoma that will empower the youth there, providing skills and training to enable them to shape their own future.

Talking to the College View, a spokesperson for the project said that funds raised from DCU Rag week will go towards financing the centre in Kaoma, adding that they, “believe the linkup between students in DCU and the Kaoma youth is important, appropriate, and will be hugely beneficial to the future of the town and region.”

Following the horrific earthquake in Haiti a decision was made by the SU to help an additional fourth charity, the Unicef Haiti appeal, which relies heavily on funding from the public to help the thousands of children orphaned by the disaster, as well as supplying them with food, medical supplies and shelter materials.

Asked about the importance of Rag Week to students, John Murphy said, “the whole point of Rag week is about raising money, and indeed awareness for charities and organisations and letting students know what they are about.”

“Students can get a real sense of self satisfaction from helping out and volunteering,” he added.