Notre Dame basketball fans donate cash for Haiti

NOTRE DAME — Saturday, as the Notre Dame men's basketball team took on DePaul, more than 150 student athletes took on a challenge of their own — raising money for Haiti. "Our goal is to get as much as we can because every dollar will count," says Charmelle Green, senior assistant athletic director. During the first half of the game more than 150 student athletes passed buckets through the sold-out crowd. The event was organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. Fans dug deep. All the money dropped into the buckets will help Haiti clean up from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated the country earlier this month. "We saw donations from change in pockets to $20 bills. We are thankful for everything we got," says student athlete Jake Golick. The hope was everyone would give a dollar. But as the money came pouring in, it was clea fans gave much more than that. Ryan Connolly is a Notre Dame athlete and in charge of raising money in Section 5. He'll be back on Sunday, with his bucket, for the women's basketball game. "It is astronomical to think how much we can raise this weekend and the impact we can make in two days," says Connolly. The thousands of dollars gathered will be combined with money donated by the University from gate admission and concession revenue. That money will come from both the men's and women's games. "This is a great opportunity for us to not only to get the students and the University community involved but also the community at large involved," says Green. And for a country where every dollar counts, the University expects to send six figures to help Haiti. The money raised Saturday and Sunday will be given to The Notre Dame Haiti project, The Congregation of the Holy Cross and the Catholic Relief Service. The Notre Dame Monogram Club is matching up to $10,000 of what the student athletes raise.