In the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, two Iowa State groups will be sponsoring a fund raiser Tuesday for residents of Honduras.

The fund raiser will be sponsored by the Honduras Emergency Life Relief Program (HELP) and the Agricultural Education and Studies Department Graduate Organization (GOINAGED).

The groups will be collecting clothing, canned food and medicine on Dec. 8, 9 and 10 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Renan Pineda, graduate student in agronomy and member of HELP, said money is not needed at this time as much as medicine.

“At this point, people are in the need of more than clothes [and] food,” he said. “They need medicine.”

Pineda said there are five basic types of goods they want to collect for Honduras, including food, clothes, medicine, household items and kitchen items.

Hurricane Mitch ravaged Honduras on Oct. 28, leaving hundreds dead and wounded.

Alejandrina Carrasco, graduate student in agricultural education and studies and member of both HELP and GOINAGED, said victims of the hurricane are in desperate need of assistance.

“They’ve lost everything — their house, their clothes, their furniture — everything,” she said.

“The world is seeing one of the largest disasters ever,” Pineda said.

Carrasco said the items collected this week will be sent to the Fundazion Maria, an organization founded by the first lady of Honduras.

“We want to make sure that the poorest are getting this help,” she said.

Pineda said HELP will have a multi-step relief aid program.

The first step is not to ask for money, he said, but to ask for basic necessities.

“The second step is to connect with an international organization to open an account to be sent to an organization in our country to do with what is best,” he said.

Pineda said the third step of the program has not been organized yet.

“We have to meet again after finals to decide on the next step,” he said.

Pineda said the government of Honduras has an emergency plan in place to help the victims of Hurricane Mitch.

“We know that the government in Honduras is building a plan to rebuild Honduras,” he said. “There is an emergency plan — a 100-day emergency plan.”

HELP plans to have various fund raisers for the duration of these 100 days, Pineda said.

“We will be doing this for the next three months,” he said. “We don’t have an exact goal, but if we could send a container every month, that [would be] our goal.”

Pineda said HELP will try to determine what the priorities of the Honduran government are and which of these priorities HELP can address.

HELP is also producing a series of informational videos to educate the community on the effects of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, Pineda said.

“We are preparing a set of videos to address the situation in Honduras to the community,” he said. “[We will be] showing them in churches [to] communicate with the community to let them know what the situation is.”

Pineda said HELP also is preparing a series of television interviews, newspaper articles and radio programs to publicize the crisis to the Ames community.

Pineda said they are hoping for a lot of support from the Ames community.

Carrasco said HELP and GOINAGED already have received support from some members of the community.

“We have received a lot of help from the Catholic Church and Richard Harter from the Ames Convention and Visitor’s Bureau,” she said.

She expressed her gratitude towards the community for the help they already have given.

“I, as a Honduran, really appreciate the kindness of all these people,” she said. “Most of them have not been in Honduras, but they have a sense of community, and that is really great.”

Pineda said in addition to appealing to the Ames community, HELP will also approach the Des Moines and Nevada communities for assistance.