ELON, N.C. ? In less than a week’s time, the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” effort spearheaded by Elon senior catcher Mike Melillo has seen a total of $2,835 donated to the Red Cross towards relief efforts in the island nation which was ravaged by a 7.0 earthquake a week ago today.
 
As of Tuesday morning’s update, schools from 13 different states had donated towards the cause. A total of 20 different schools were represented. Donations in the name of the Elon total $1,405 while the University of North Carolina checks in with $600 towards the total.
 
Stories which have aired as well as an updated map of where donations have come from can be found at www.elon.edu/e-web/athletics/pinchhitforhaiti.xhtml.
 
Numerous programs have just returned to campus and coaches have pledged to make donations so the total will continue to rise. The Sacramento State team held its first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day Fundamentals Camp on Monday and has pledged to donated more than $1,200 in proceeds to this effort.
 
The Elon baseball team has challenged every NCAA collegiate baseball team to donate money to the Red Cross as part of the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” initiative. Fans are also encouraged to make a donation.
 
After thinking about the amount of money that could be raised if every athlete gave just $1, Melillo came up with the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” concept. “The idea is to pay it forward because we’re not in a situation to physically help,” said Melillo. “We want to offer our help in any way we can. Although our donations may be small individually, we feel that collectively as student-athletes our support will be of great assistance.”
 
Last Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has had an effect on nearly 3,000,000 people in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was nearly leveled and many people are still missing. Estimates have casualties numbering in the 10s of thousands.
 
Steps to joining Pinch Hit for Haiti:
As a team:
1. An individual from your school collects $1.00 from each member of the team.
2. That individual visits www.redcross.org and donates the amount collected via credit or debit card.
3. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount donated.
4. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.
5. Email the information along with your team/school name to pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com

6. Pay it forward and tell as many student-athletes as you can about our objective.
 
As an individual:
1.Visit www.redcross.org and donates the amount collected via credit or debit card.
2. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount donated.
3. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.
4. Email the information along with the school you cheer for or the school you wish to represent to pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com

5. Pay it forward and tell as many people as you can about our objective.
 
As of Tuesday morning, here is the list of programs represented:
Alabama: Samford
California: San Diego State
Florida: Central Florida, Florida
Hawaii: Hawaii
Indiana: Butler
Iowa: Northwestern College
Nevada: UNLV
New Jersey: Princeton, Rutgers
North Carolina: East Carolina, Elon, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Baseball America
Rhode Island: Rhode Island
South Carolina: Furman, South Carolina
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
Virginia: Virginia Tech