Several UB students have rallied to show support of the victims of the Paris attacks by changing their profile pictures on Facebook, but Justin Bui said he wanted to do something more.
“I think that’s great but for me I thought we could just to more than that and we could use this at a platform to generate more support,” Bui, a first-year business student and second-year pharmacy student, said.
The Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) is working in collaboration with the Lambda Kappa Sigma, a professional pharmacy fraternity, to raise support and donate funds for relief for the victims of the terror attacks in Paris, France.
One hundred and thirty people were killed in the attacks that occurred in Paris, France on Nov. 13. The Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Bui, who is a member of both SNPhA and Lambda Kappa Sigma, said they will be sending a banner they signed to the pharmacy school in Paris Descartes University. He said UB professors from pharmacy program go the university every year, so they figured it would be the appropriate place to send the banner. Bui said SNPhA and Lambda Kappa Sigma will also be taking a photo in front of Kapoor Hall on Monday to send to the university.
SNPhA and Lambda Kappa Sigma designed a banner, which states, “We are here for you.” They allowed students and faculty members to write messages for the victims on the banner.
Isabella Lee, a second-year pharmacy student and member of the Lambda Kappa Sigma, came up with the idea to create ribbons for the fundraising effort. The students made roughly 200 white ribbons to represent world peace and passed them out to students and faculty to collect donation funds. Students have decorated their backpacks and coats to raise awareness for the effort. They have raised approximately $300 as of Sunday and all of the proceeds will be donated to the International Relief Team.
“I think this could be a good way to jumpstart something bigger,” Bui said. “I think the long-term vision of me and the other students is to have other students across UB help out and support Paris.”
Jonathan You, a third-year pharmacy student who is also a member of both organizations, said he wanted to wish the victims the best and send them his support.
“Originally when the attacks first happened, the news just got worse and worse everyday so we decided it would be a really good idea to start raising money since we did something like this for the earthquake in Nepal,” You said.
He said it’s “really nice” to see that a lot of people are interested in donating and interested in sharing their support.
Bui said when he first heard about the attacks, he thought it was a good idea to design a banner and send it out to a university in Paris, because he thought it would be “relatable” coming from fellow college students.
He said students have been extremely supportive in the donation effort and he’s proud of the success of the fundraising effort.
“It’s very different when you’re holding a fundraiser for a disaster than for your own organization,” You said. “When people hear that you’re are raising money for a disaster, they’re emotionally responsive.”
Susan Liu, a third-year pharmacy student and service chair for Lambda Kappa Sigma, said the effort is a way students can give back to other countries.
“When America was going through our terrorists attacks, the entire world was so supportive of us, and now these things are happening in other countries, I just wanted to offer the same support to other countries,” Liu said.
The students have also put together an online donation fund on GoFundMe where students can give back to the relief effort.
“It’s always nice when you see people coming together because with everyone’s daily activities it’s easy to get carried away,” Liu said.
Ashley Inkumsah is a news desk editor and can be reached at ashley.inkumsah@ubspectrum.com.
