Penn State Alumni Seek to Raise More Than $500,000 to Fight Sexual Abuse

Penn State University alumni and fans have donated $360,000 in the past few days to a child sex-abuse group to demonstrate their support for the youngsters allegedly molested by their alma mater’s former football coach, Jerry Sandusky.

The grassroots fund-raising campaign seeks to raise more than $550,000, or about a dollar for each of Penn State’s 557,000 alumni. Organizers say it hopes to meet that goal by the end of this week.

The money supports the Internet hotline for victims of sexual assault managed by Rainn, the acronym for the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, a Washington nonprofit.

The campaign got its start after some Penn State alumni suggested the idea to Rainn on Tuesday of last week.

By Wednesday, organizers had built a Web site—ProudToBeAPennStater.com, and supporters immediately turned to social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, to spread their message virally. Using the hashtag, #ProudPSUforRAINN, some wrote: “Just $10 will provide help 4 one survivor through the National Sexual Assault Hotline. Donate to #ProudPSUforRAINN 2day.”

Supporters can also give through Rainn’s Web site and can sign up to be a volunteer, buy a T-shirt to support the cause, and learn about child sexual abuse.

Within 24 hours, the campaign was mentioned 1.5 million times in Twitter posts and attracted $53,000 in online donations, says Katherine Hull, a Rainn spokeswoman. More than 288 people have signed up to become volunteers since the fund-raising campaign began.

In that period, Rainn saw a 45-percent jump in the number of people who turned to the online hotline, which operates around the clock to allow young victims to send instant messages anonymously to chat online with trained volunteers, Ms. Hull says. “It’s been an incredible campaign.”

She adds: “What we’ve heard from the alums is they want to make sure that the Penn State community can really rally to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Caitlyn Gossert, a 21-year-old senior majoring in public relations and art history at Penn State, contributed $50 to the cause. As executive director of Happy Valley Communications, a student-run public relations firm on campus, she’s been sharing the campaign’s message with other students, handing out fliers, and urging friends and relatives to donate.

She says other groups on campus have started their own fund-raising campaigns, too. The Daily Collegian, the campus newspaper, reported on a group of students who have raised $1,844 for Childhelp, a nonprofit organization that helps those young people who have suffered from child abuse and neglect.

“We just really want to do as much as we can to help the victims and move forward,” Ms. Gossert said.

Matt Barto, a 27-year-old software engineer in San Francisco, donated $200 to the cause. He read about the campaign through his Twitter feed.

“It’s a good opportunity for Penn State in general,” says Mr. Barto, a 2008 alumnus. “With what’s happening right now, it’s a huge PR nightmare. It’s almost surreal to imagine. I just wanted to do something positive out of all this mess.”