Today the Howl for Haiti drive unofficially kicks off to commemorate the Haitian victims, starting with the vigil being held in the Brickyard from 12:30 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. It will feature Tom Stafford, the vice chancellor for Student Affairs, as well as the Haitian music group, the Beronette sisters.

The goal of the drive is to raise $50,000 on behalf of the University to donate to Stop Hunger Now.

Ericka Aiken, the chair of the community service commission, said the point is to show respect for the people that lost their lives.

‘What we want most is to honor the victims of this horrible event,’ she said.

The Beronette sisters are a pair of twins of Haitian descent who will compliment the other speaker, Danson Ceneus, a Haiti resident. Ceneus will speak for about five minutes to share the experience of what is going on down there.

‘Mr. Ceneus will give a personal account of what is going on, and will tie it to N.C. State to give us a connection to the devastation down there,’ Aiken said. ‘Hopefully he will describe what the people need most down there.’

Wednesday night at the men’s basketball game against Duke there will be a donation drive for students to begin raising the $50,000 needed to meet the SG challenge.

Jim Ceresnak, student body president, said the purpose of Howl for Haiti is to create a campus-wide movement to contribute to this cause.

‘Our job is to aid in this crisis, and we pledge to do so by contributing $50,000 to Stop Hunger Now,’ he said.

Stop Hunger Now is the partner the University has chosen to help bridge the relief money with those that need it the most. The amount is easy to break down Ceresnak said, if every student does their part.

‘Even if every student contributes two dollars, we can more than meet our goal,’ he said.

Ceresnak and Aiken both said the success of this movement depends on the students.

‘We can more than meet this goal, but the success of us helping the victims of Haiti hinges on student groups stepping up, holding fundraisers, finding company matching programs, anything to help us reach our goal,’ Ceresnak said.

SG said all groups that contribute to the Howl for Haiti cause will be appropriately recognized for their efforts.

More information can be found at the Web site