By Blake Penfield, Staff Writer

Meg Rama began a stuffed animal drive for the child victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita shortly after the disasters hit in response to her professor’s challenge. The class was discussing the problems with disaster relief when he told them that instead of complaining they should do something about it. Rama listened.

“Instead of sitting around and blaming other people and criticizing them for what they did, we should get up and do whatever we can to make the situation better. Complaining doesn’t get us anywhere,” said Rama, sophomore international studies major from Uruguay.

The daughter of a Uruguayan missionary, Rama had been taught what it means to reach out to those in need since the day she was born.

“Growing up a missionary gave me the mentality that if you don’t reach out to people, there’s no way to make a difference or impact,” Rama said.

Rama’s project is delibrately different from many hurricane relief efforts; hers centers around the victims who are children.

“Their toys are what define them and their ‘social status’ in the kid world,” Rama said.

During Fall Break and the Thanksgiving holiday, Rama and others plan on going with Southern Hills Church of Christ to the areas most devastated by the hurricanes to pass out the stuffed animals. The Boys and Girls Club has donated more than 500 stuffed animals, and ACU students have donated 20.

Donation tables for the stuffed animal drive will continue to accept donations for the next two weeks in the Campus Center.

“I understand that it’s hard to ask college students for stuffed animals because most don’t own any, but if they’d just go and buy one, it would make such a huge difference,” Rama said. “Putting smiles on these kids’ faces and giving them something to play with – there’s such a huge advantage from a small donation.”