For Oscar Garcia, the last two weeks have been bittersweet. The Nicaraguan native has watched the news of how Hurricane Mitch has ripped his homeland, worried about his relatives there, and spent nearly every hour outside of his job as a Medical Center respiratory therapist collecting supplies to be shipped to Central America. But he is heartened by fellow campus members -- mostly rank and file – who have become part of an impressive grassroots effort to collect clothing, food, medicines and other goods for the hurricane victims.

"I saw on television what the hurricane did," said Garcia. "I felt like my own house was torn apart. I needed to do something." While growing up in Nicaragua, he witnessed the ruins of a 1972 earthquake and years of civil war. After he left in 1978, he tracked his country’s years of rebuilding, only to see much of it wiped out in days.

On Nov. 4, he contacted Public Affairs’ Katherine Riordan, a veteran at linking charitable people with do-gooders, for advice. He got the okay to set up a collection point for emergency relief materials in the Respiratory Care Service Office in the basement of Moffitt Hospital, and the word was spread. Garcia soon was being paged by people he didn't even know. Within days there were boxes full of sleeping bags, blankets, over the counter drugs, canned and dry foods, diapers and clothes at Parnassus, Mount Zion and Laurel Heights.

UCSF/Mount Zion nurses Pam Nye and Ellen DiPaulo set up a collection point and storage room for goods so plentiful that a large van was needed to haul them. Ruth Saldana at the School of Dentistry helped collect a truckload of supplies for Garcia, who had made contact with community groups and churches who had arrangements to ship goods to Central America. At Laurel Heights, Sylvia Correro of the division of general internal medicine was asked by a friend at San Francisco General Hospital to collect clothing. She checked Daybreak for information and learned about Garcia’s efforts. She put up a washing machine-sized box on the third floor, where staff at the Institute of Health and Aging quickly filled it, and more boxes in the lobby. Diana Ramos of the Millberry Union Bookstore noticed no collection boxes in her building and called Riordan. Soon both were copying fliers and attaching them to empty computer boxes, which would become full of non-perishable foods and supplies for babies. "I help with the San Francisco Food Bank holiday drive every year," said Ramos. "But this relief effort has really touched me."

"I’m astonished that people are thanking me," said Garcia. "I’m doing this because I have to. I tell them that they are the ones that deserve the thanks."

Garcia has never met Henry Padilla, a truck driver for Airborne Express whose route includes Parnassus and Laurel Heights, but their efforts and interests are related. Padilla does not know anyone in Central America, but discussed his desire to help with Nancy Heller at LH, who referred him to Riordan. They set up more collection points at LH and Parnassus, and as of yesterday morning, Padilla had packed 26 boxes of supplies, which will be flown Thursday to Honduras, courtesy of his boss and Airborne Express. Padilla will be adding to that total. Yesterday, Garcia got word that some nice guy from Airborne picked up boxes that Garcia collected in the Moffitt basement and offered to have them sent to their destination.

Attention Grabber

We don’t know if Michael Kennedy, the animal rights activist who spent nearly a week perched outside the fourth floor of the Medical Sciences building, got all the attention he wanted, but he did get plenty from police and doctors during his chilly stay. The UCSF Police Department brought in extra staff, including UC officers from Berkeley and Davis, so he and the area could be watched day and night. Police were concerned about his health, said Chief Ron Nelson, and ER doctors were periodically sent to examine him from a fourth floor window. Nelson is adding up the costs for the extra security, which included ground and roof patrols and an officer stationed on the fourth floor to maintain contact with the protestor. The latter was often a familiar face to Kennedy -- the Berkeley officer who negotiated with him when he pulled a similar protest atop the 307-foot clock Campanile at that campus.

Construction on the north side of the Medical Sciences building, where fume hoods are being relocated, had to be suspended for one week because of the protest, according to project manager Jeff Cavener. Ironically, workers were ready to start putting up the panels to cover the risers, including the set that served as Kennedy’s temporary nest. They were sent home the Wednesday the protest began, and the University will have to spring for their pay for that day, he said.

There’s Good News and Bad News

These headlines appeared recently on the health and science news wires:

The good news: "Exercise reduces risk in heart patients" (Yahoo/Reuters Health Information, Nov. 11)
The bad news: "Exhaustion in elderly linked to heart risk" (Yahoo/Reuters, Nov. 11)