It’s been a little over a week since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the already impoverished nation of Haiti. Across the nation people have been working to provide aid to the island nation, from celebrities to former presidents to private citizens.

The Penn State community is no exception to this rule, with several groups and alumni both raising funds at home and providing aid on the ground.

Matthew Marek, class of ’98, has been working in Haiti for a decade with the American Red Cross. He has remained in the nation and has become one of the major sources of information on the ground. Here is Marek being interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper:

Closer to home, many student organizations are working to raise money to sent to Haiti. SHRA, UPUA, LionHearts and Project Haiti (founded in 1997) are all raising funds, which will be distributed to groups such as the Red Cross, World Vision and CARE. UPUA in particular is spearheading a group effort of several organizations and will have a table in the HUB every day this week where you can give donations.

Other groups, such as the College of IST’s iSchools team, are taking another approach. They are looking at how to centralize efforts to get people in contact with their relatives in Haiti, particularly through the web.

Even local businesses are lending a hand. Insomnia Cookies will be donating 50% of all the money they make through this Thursday to the relief effort.

While you may not be directly affected by this disaster, you may know someone who has been. Please consider supporting to one of the numerous organizations providing aid.