Gilroy – Bharat Poria knows how natural disasters can devastate lives.
When he watches the news reports and footage from the deadly earthquake and tsunami in south Asia, Poria feels for the victims. His heart goes out to the families, to the sick, to the children.
But lodged in the myriad of emotions, one simple feeling stands out: the desire to help.
Which is why, as the owner of It’s A Grind coffee shop in Gilroy Crossing, one of Poria’s most immediate thoughts after first hearing of the tsunami was to organize a donation drive in his store.
Born in Tanzania, Poria lost several of his family members during a flood in the 1970s in Gujarat, which is in the northern part of India. Although Poria was living in England at the time, he said he remembers vividly the overwhelming sense of loss and frustration of not knowing if his loved ones were dead or alive.
“I remember the house I grew up in, in Morvi (a small town in Gujarat),” he said. “All that is gone now.”
Poria’s wife was born in Bombay but they have no relatives living near where the tsunami hit. Poria’s brother was on his honeymoon in Pekat, India, eight days before the tsunami, and the couple has visited Phi Phi Island.
“It was such a beautiful place, a really beautiful island,” Poria said. “I’m amazed at the destruction.”
To help, the coffee shop is donating $2 for every pound of coffee sold in the month of January to the disaster relief organization AmeriCares. Additionally, customers can add any amount of money to their order and request that it be donated to AmeriCares for tsunami relief.
Although Poria didn’t have a working total of donations made at his store, he said the 150 pounds of coffee that are ordered weekly are constantly selling out.
At Gilroy High School, a group of six students are dedicating their lunch periods to scouring the campus with large plastic water jugs, to collect change that will go to the Red Cross.
Organized through the Associated Student Body, the students have raised more than $400 and are hoping to double that amount by Friday, the final day of the collection.
The group is looking for a local company to match the funds they raise. Additionally, the students are in the process of organizing a fundraising concert in the next few weeks that will feature local bands.
Philip Jacobs, a GHS freshman who spearheaded the relief effort, said he simply felt called to help the victims, especially after seeing the aftermath of the disaster on televised news reports. Although the initial hope to raise $5,000 was a little ambitious, Jacobs said he’s been impressed with the generosity of both students and teachers.
Cate Pedersen, a GHS senior, dropped a dollar into the jug at lunch Wednesday.
“Watching the news, it’s so depressing,” she said. “You see all the families, and the kids – oh, the kids.”
While cash donation drives are a common sight around town, behind-the-scenes relief efforts also are in full swing. The local Rotary district, which covers 10 clubs including Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Juan Bautista, is working to raise money to purchase water purification equipment to send to the area of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The lack of clean water is one the disaster area’s most pressing crises.
A series of connections and exchanges paved the way for the Rotary project. A member of the Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary Club, once the president and a member of a rotary club in Sri Lanka, contacted a friend who lives in that country and asked what local clubs could do to help. When the need for water was identified, the work began to contact each of the clubs in the district to ask for support.
Another member, from the San Jose Rotary, offered to professionally evaluate which purification systems would be best to purchase. Each system, costing about $2,200, will be bought in the U.S. and shipped free of charge by Singapore Airlines. The Colombo West Rotary Club will install the units where they are needed.
Kurt Michielssen, president of Gilroy Rotary, said the board of directors next week will discuss the club’s current budget and perhaps make a donation to the project.
Gary Bowe, a 20-plus year member of Rotary International and member of Gilroy Rotary, said the project came together relatively quickly and has the potential to make a real difference in the areas hit by the disaster.
“The need is immediate. I think in a situation like this, a lot of people really want to help,” Bowe said. “It’s a matter of choosing the right vehicle that can do something quickly and give you the confidence that it will be well managed.”
