Indiana Wesleyan University students and employees collected $22,000 for a Haiti Relief Fund, and IWU President Henry Smith said the University would match the offering dollar for dollar.
“Thank you so much for your participation,” Smith told students and faculty at IWU’s Monday chapel service. “I think if we continue our efforts for a few more days, we can get to $50,000.”
A check for the $44,000 already raised was presented Monday to Dr. H.C. Wilson, General Director of Global Partners, which is the missionary arm of The Wesleyan Church.
“On behalf of the people of Haiti, who have been so devastated by this earthquake, I want to say thank you,” Wilson said. “You have no idea how profound your impact will be as Haiti seeks to rebuild.”
The Haiti Relief Fund at IWU began two weeks ago with an offering in chapel. The offering later was extended to IWU’s 1,000 employees and to adult education students at 15 regional campuses in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The denomination took an offering for earthquake relief Sunday at Wesleyan churches around the world, but Wilson said it would be weeks before all of those funds are received and tallied.
The Wesleyan Church has several missionaries in Haiti and operates a hospital on the island of La Gonave. IWU is an institution of The Wesleyan Church.
The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical, Protestant denomination, which has its roots in John Wesley’s Methodism. The denomination has nearly 400,000 constituents in 5,000 churches and missions in 80 countries around the world.
The world headquarters of the denomination are in Fishers, Indiana.