While many students around campus have been affected by the recent tsunami disaster, employees at the Blackhawk Food Court in the Holmes Student Center have felt the impact of the tragedy harder than others.

Lensi Tweed, a Blackhawk Food Court server, lost more than 64 friends and 35 relatives in the disaster and many more still are missing. Fortunately, Tweed’s mother, father, brother and uncle were spared.

Employees there also began collecting cash donations for Banda Aceh, an employee whose homeland is in Indonesia.

Tweed still wants to find out the status of 50 of her mother’s relatives from the village of Meulaboh. Five of Tweed’s family members are already confirmed dead there.

Currently, Tweed’s family members are living in shelters. They have some food and water, but children are still not in schools, Tweed said.

“My mother’s cousin survived for three days but then he got an infection because there was no one there to help him,” Tweed said. “Every night when I go to sleep, it’s almost like a movie going on in my mind of how they survived.”

Once $5,000 in donations have been collected, Tweed plans to take the donations to Indonesia at the end of this month and return in March. She plans to give the donations to family, friends and neighbors so they can start rebuilding their homes.

Tweed also established the “Tsunami Relief Fund” at DeKalb’s Associated Bank, 1325 Sycamore Road. The bank is accepting checks made out to the “Tsunami Relief Fund.”

Blackhawk manager Mary Lou Rempfer said the food court already has collected $110 in donations from customers, faculty staff and students. Rempfer also said a notebook for people to write words of sympathy and encouragement will be placed in the food court this week.

“So many of my customers had many kind words and compassion for her [Tweed],” Rempfer said. “This is the first time I’ve seen her smile in a while.”

In addition to all the monetary donations, Tweed said a very generous physics professor and his wife, who wished to remain anonymous, donated an all expense-paid, round-trip ticket to Indonesia for her to visit her family. Some of Tweed’s other customers also donated a few hundred dollars toward long distance phone calls to her family, she said.

Tweed has told her story to newspapers and broadcasting stations such as ABC, WGN, FOX and CNN.

“I’m tired and sad,” Tweed said. “But, I feel that by telling my story to others, more people will help.”

Student Involvement and Leadership Development will hold meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to collaborate financial contributions, bottled water, clothes and nonperishable food items, said Darnell Bradley, program coordinator for NIU fraternity and sorority affairs.

Shiraz Tata, a psychologist at Counseling and Student Development said tsunami counseling is free. Walk-ins are welcome from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, for those affected by the tsunami disaster or with other concerns. To set up an appointment, call 815-753-1206.