WOODLAND HILLS : Students Will Send Goods to Bosnian Needy

The day after graduation, two Pierce College students on Friday collected the spoils of one of their extracurricular projects: a van load of donated canned food, clothes and toys, destined for the needy in Los Angeles and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The culmination of the two-month effort was the fourth and most successful such drive in two years, netting canned soups and vegetables, clothing of all types and miniature trucks, stuffed animals and other toys.

Students, faculty members and cafeteria workers gave at collection boxes at several campus locations, said Saji Prelis, president of the Associated Students Organization, who organized the effort.

The clothes will be sent to war victims in the former Yugoslavia by the American Network for Services and Relief (ANSAR) and distributed by agencies there.

“It’s still cold over in Bosnia, even though that’s hard to imagine from here,” said Narma Ahmady, a Pierce student who volunteers for ANSAR. “The people there need these clothes.”

The canned food and toys will be distributed in poor areas of Los Angeles by members of local mosques, Ahmady said.