Today marks one month to the date since a 9.0 earthquake generated a tsunami that traversed the Indian Ocean, killing almost 225,000 people in coastal areas.

In DeKalb, almost 10,000 miles away from the devastation, the community has tirelessly rallied in support of tsunami victims.

The NIU community, with its own tragic connection to the tsunami, Blackhawk Food Court worker Lensi Tweed, has spearheaded numerous collections for cash and relief supplies.

Anonymous donors gave Tweed airplane fare to visit her family. Food court customers have donated money for phone calls to Tweed’s homeland of Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Southeast Asia Club, Thai Student Association and the Indonesian community of NIU saw to it that volunteers manned tables and collected donations on campus.

Student Involvement and Leadership Development is collecting cash donations, clothing, bottled water and non-perishable food items.

Even some of the community’s youngest members are raising funds.

Children at Lincoln Elementary School are recording songs onto CDs, the proceeds of which will aid tsunami victims. The third, fourth and fifth graders at Lincoln cannot possibly grasp the magnitude of the tsunami disaster but even they know that when it comes to aid, “every little bit helps.”

Adults also are challenged to empathize with a threat – literally a wall of water – far removed from the reality of life in the rural Midwest.

And yet, tsunami victims have persisted in the public consciousness.

The countless numbers who have participated in relief efforts should be applauded. They truly embody the American spirit of helping others.

We should never be satisfied that enough is enough, though. If you have not yet found a way to contribute, make it your priority to do so in the next week.