Raza Studies majors Gustavo Choto and Jacqueline Mendez, with the help of local Salvadoran businesses, organized a fundraiser yesterday that will benefit the flood and earthquake victims of El Salvador.

Choto, 25 and Mendez, 22, set up a small table outside the Ethnic Studies and Psychology building. Their set up paled in comparison to the tables set up for the Hurricane Katrina relief outside the Cesar Chavez Student Center, but nevertheless, Choto said that they have had their fair share of traffic.

Many of the patrons were just looking to buy a cookie and some coffee and were not initially conscious of the events in Central America and El Salvador.

"The cookies looked good and I was just dying for a cup of coffee," said 22-year-old psychology major Elyse Santana. "When I approached the table I saw that the money was going to help the victims of a country in crisis. It was cool because I got my caffeine fix and the money is going for a good cause."

Three weeks ago Central American countries were ravaged by Hurricane Stan and El Salvador, aside from enduring heavy flooding caused by the hurricane was also hit by a volcanic eruption and a magnitude 5.7 earthquake. Seventy people died and fifty thousand were displaced. Choto and Mendez are making sure to inform students that the victims of the disaster have been evacuated to poorly improvised refugee camps.

Some students were fully aware of the situation in El Salvador and were more than happy to donate money.

"My aunt informed me of the extent of the damage in El Salvador," explained Raza Studies major Carlos Lobos. "It's messed up what's going on (over there) and I was happy to donate money. To me, it's just really important to help my people.”

By 1 o'clock, Choto and Mendez were running low on pastries and coffee but had collected nearly two hundred dollars.

"It's gone really well," related Mendez. "We had a big box full of pastries and now we have nothing left. It lets us know that next time we may need to bring two boxes.”

Next time might be as soon as today. Choto is planning to go get more coffee from the Vasquez San Francisco Coffee Company of El Salvador. The Vasquez company along with local pastry shops in the
San Francisco Excelsior district have made donations to Choto and Solis' cause.

In the upcoming days Choto and Solis plan to find other volunteers to help them set up tables outside the Humanities building and the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Choto said that their only concern is whether they will have permission to do so.

"We're not sure that places like Cafe Rosso will have a problem with us selling coffee near their vicinity," said Choto. "They might ask us to leave but we are going to go ahead and give it a try anyway."

The money collected from the fundraiser will be used to buy supplies that Choto and Solis will be taking to El Salvador on November 7. They will be working with local community groups and with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).

Choto and Mendez will be on campus attempting to raise as much money as they can before departing for El Salvador. Anyone interested in some authentic Salvadoran coffee and pastries will be able to find them outside the Ethnic Studies and Psychology building for the remainder of the week.