ELON, N.C. – As of Wednesday, the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” effort spearheaded by Elon senior catcher Mike Melillo has seen a total of $16,272 donated to the Red Cross towards relief efforts in the island nation which was ravaged by a 7.0 earthquake.

As of Wednesday’s update, schools from 31 different states and Washington, D.C. had donated towards the cause. A total of 82 different schools were represented. Donations in the name of Elon total $4,139 while Charlotte checks in with $1,076 towards the total.  Sacramento State in California added $1,200 to the total after donating the proceeds from their first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day Fundamentals Camp toward the project.

Stories which have aired on local television as well as an updated map of where donations have come from can be found at the link above.

The Elon baseball team has challenged every NCAA collegiate baseball team to donate money to the Red Cross as part of the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” initiative. Fans are also encouraged to make a donation.

After thinking about the amount of money that could be raised if every athlete gave just $1, Melillo came up with the “Pinch Hit for Haiti” concept. “The idea is to pay it forward because we’re not in a situation to physically help,” said Melillo. “We want to offer our help in any way we can. Although our donations may be small individually, we feel that collectively as student-athletes our support will be of great assistance.”

The 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has had an effect on nearly 3,000,000 people in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was nearly leveled. Estimates have casualties numbering in the 10s of thousands.

1. An individual from your school collects $1.00 from each member of the team.

2. That individual visits www.redcross.org and donates the amount collected via credit or debit card.

3. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount donated.

4. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.

5. Email the information along with your team/school name to pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com

6. Pay it forward and tell as many student-athletes as you can about our objective.

1.Visit www.redcross.org and donates the amount collected via credit or debit card.

2. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount donated.

3. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.

4. Email the information along with the school you cheer for or the school you wish to represent to pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com

5. Pay it forward and tell as many people as you can about our objective.

As of Wednesday, here is the list of programs represented:

Alabama: Auburn, Samford, Troy

Arkansas: Hendrix

California: Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State, San Diego State, San Francisco

Connecticut: Connecticut, Fairfield

Florida: Central Florida, Florida, South Florida

Georgia: Georgia Southern

Hawaii: Hawaii

Illinois: Southern Illinois

Indiana: Butler, Huntington, Indiana State

Iowa: Iowa Wesleyan, Northwestern College

Kentucky: Louisville

Louisiana: McNeese State, Louisiana State, Tulane

Maine: Maine

Massachusetts: Boston College, Elms, Northeastern, Stonehill, Tufts

Michigan: Michigan, Oakland

Mississippi: Mississippi

Nevada: UNLV

New Jersey: Centenary, Princeton, Rutgers

New York: LeMoyne, Siena, Stony Brook, Union

North Carolina: Appalachian State, Campbell, Charlotte, Duke, East Carolina, Elon, Gardner-Webb, North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, North Carolina State, UNC Wilmington, Wake Forest, Baseball America

Ohio: Ohio, Youngstown State

Pennsylvania: Eastern, Gettysburg, Grove City

Rhode Island: Bryant, Rhode Island

South Carolina: The Citadel, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, Furman, South Carolina, USC Upstate, Winthrop, Wofford

South Dakota: Sioux Falls

Tennessee: Tennessee Wesleyan

Texas: Austin, TCU, Texas Southern

Virginia: Radford, Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary

Washington: Washington

Washington, D.C.: Catholic, Georgetown

West Virginia: West Virginia