Quo Vadis

Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: Campus & Community

On January 21, Greg T. of Z100's "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show" came to support Haiti Relief with the restaurant Benihana in Edison. In the wake of the massive earthquake that has devastated the nation of Haiti, the restaurant partnered with the station to hold a drive for clothes, shoes, toys, tents, and sleeping bags.
Greg T., a former student of Middlesex County College and native to East Brunswick, said, "I'm sure everyone is looking for a way to help out. We never turn away from helping out. When this happened, immediately Elvis [Duran] called everybody [and asked], 'What can we do?'" As Z100 was thinking of some ideas, the privately-owned Benihana approached them to partner in the effort, T said. "Elvis wanted to make sure that he knew exactly what the Red Cross needed; once he found out-sleeping bags and tents-we moved forward," Greg T. said. "We called in twice an hour to make sure the local audience knew what was occurring." Once the day was confirmed with Benihana, the restaurant coordinated everything else, providing everything from the truck to volunteers, he said.
Andy Patel, a manager at Benihana, said that "watching the devastation gets to your heart. Sending money is easy. Collecting and making sure people can get involved in meeting the need was something we wanted to get involved in. We figured this would be the best way for us to do something." Patel said the day went well, and opened an invitation for the MCC community to help with sorting items in the coming weeks. Gloria Kim another manager at the restaurant said, "Volunteers can contact us directly at the restaurant if they want to help with sorting and packing; boxes and packing tape are needed as well."
Grace Miralles of Franklin said she was surprised at how many people came to donate items for the drive. "In just a few hours we filled almost half a truck. It's great that we received so many things to help meet the need," she said. Brian Tressita, a Benihana employee, said he was impressed that people actually went to stores and supplied brand-new items to send to Haiti. "I've been thinking about what's been going on down there, and being involved today, seeing the donations and the number of people that came out, made it really hit home."
MCC students Alan Camposano, a Business major, and Mark Aguila, a Computer Science major were awake at 6 a.m. to help with the drive. "One of the reasons why I came is because a friend of mine is Haitian," said Aquila. "He's really having a hard time with all of this and I just want to help." Camposano said, "Hopefully after a few weeks we will have three trucks filled."
I am about to break some rules of journalism here because in light of the issue at hand, it is difficult to just give the facts.
In each group there is usually that one friend who is known as the clown. Such a person is usually the one who people want around when they want to have a good time. Yet, when one gets close enough, these friends are often surprising; sometimes depth of character can go unnoticed beneath a surface of laughs and practical jokes.
Today as Greg lent a hand in Haiti Relief I was able to see how he interacted with people. Watching as he helped move heavy bags from the cars to the truck, I witnessed something a radio would never allow me to appreciate. It would seem that those who possess the secret of bringing a smile to people's faces through laughter, know how to do so through other means as well. After I watched Greg T. lend a hand, and after I heard him explain the effort to support the Haitian community, I walked away inspired.

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