“We’ve raised a few hundred dollars … although we were rushed in our efforts,” Indian Student Association President Rishi Desai said.

Desai said the organization hopes to raise money by selling food, hosting a movie and providing a Valentine’s Day date-matching service.

The group raised more than $800 by Tuesday, ISA treasurer Rakesh Patel said.

The ISA will donate all proceeds to disaster relief organizations such as the Indian prime minister’s relief fund and the Red Cross.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake centered near the city of Ahmedabad, in the western coastal state of Gujarat. It left a large commercial center in India in ruins.

“It’s difficult to hear about this when you have your own flesh and blood over there,” Desai said.

Senior Ron Shah, whose family comes from Ahmedabad, said he has only been able to keep in contact with his cousin through a cell phone because most of the phone lines are dead.

“What I told my cousins to do is to just keep their mental strength,” Shah said. “My parents tell them to come here, but they don’t want to leave.”

Shah said many people were home at the time of the earthquake because it struck on Republic Day, an Indian national holiday.

Even with the destruction caused by the earthquake, the suffering unified much of the Indian community.

“If anything, it brings the country together to help people bring together the broken pieces of their lives,” Patel said. “In the end they’re all Indians – whether your form the north, south, east and west, it’s your fellow brothers and sisters who are hurt.”

Desai said the Turkish Student Association, Pakistani Student Association and the Muslim Student Association have contacted the ISA “with open arms.”

Desai said that in addition to helping unite India, the earthquake has also helped the countries of India and Pakistan work together, despite political differences.

“From what I hear and understand, Pakistan was hit pretty hard as well,” Desai said. “The disaster like this brings all of our people together.”

Although some citizens of the United States could seek refuge from an earthquake’s destruction through insurance, India’s general lack of earthquake insurance left many individuals without many resources to rebuild.

“This is the first time an earthquake of this magnitude has occurred,” Desai said. “I’d be very surprised if people took earthquake insurance … it’s not an expense that people can afford to pay.”

Shah agreed that insurance would not be an effective tool.

“I don’t think insurance is as effective as it is here. They’re going to have a lot of economic difficulty,” he said.

Shah, who last visited India last year, said hearing of the earthquake brought a wish to help.

“My first reaction was that I wanted to go there … I wanted to do something,” he said.

Patel said that the best way to help the earthquake victims is to donate money.

“We’ve talked to our parents and they told us that food and clothes are good but nothing helps as much as money,” he said. “Money can be used to buy things they need like clothing, food, water and maybe some rebuilding.”

The earthquake also affected Patel’s family. Except for a crack in his family’s house, no one was injured.

India’s push for self-dependence makes the government wary of taking foreign aid, Shah said.

“They probably have reasons for doing that,” Shah said. “But with so many dead, it’s really an emergency.”

Shah said he feels fortunate as he hears about the suffering of others. Merely thinking about the victims can help.