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RELEASED: March 10, 2005
DANVILLE, KY—Rafayna Naquib, a junior psychology major from Frankfort, Ky., is Centre College's Volunteer of the Month for January. She was chosen for organizing a relief effort for victims of the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami that left hundreds of thousands dead or homeless throughout Asia and east Africa.
A disaster of this magnitude leaves many people with a sense of helplessness, but it galvanized Naquib to action.
"I came back from the break knowing that I wanted to do something, anything, to help with the tsunami relief," she says "I don't think my desire to help out with the relief efforts was a 'choice.' It was something that needed to be done, and so I did it.
Naquib and Trina McFarland, Centre director of community service, decided that the most immediate need was for money to support relief organizations providing essentials such as drinking water and medicines to the survivors. Naquib set up a table in Cowan Dining Common to collect donations, and a call went out for volunteers to man the table. In typical Centre fashion, support was quick and generous.
"It just goes to show how philanthropic we at Centre are," Naquib says.
"[Former] President Clinton said that the tsunami was a reminder of human fragility and our response to it a demonstration of human strength, and I believe that. I believe my help with the efforts wasn't only influenced by my nationality [Bengali] and the fact that I have family in that region of the world, but also, and mainly, because it was an immediate reaction and a desire to help people in need. The greatest connection, after all, should be the human one, right? And that, this human connection, is what really fueled my desire to do whatever I could, however small, to help the tsunami victims."
The volunteer award program at Centre recognizes some of the many students who provide service to the local community. Each year, around 60 percent of all Centre students are community volunteers. The College encourages volunteerism with a community service day each year as part of the orientation for first-year students.
For more information, contact Centre's student life office at (859) 238-5473.
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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/
For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.
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