Penn State Scandal: Alumni Raise Money For Sex Abuse Victims -- How You Can Help (VIDEO)

Thousands of Penn State University alumni, students, parents and fans have banded together to raise money for sex-abuse victims.

The sudden surge of support stems from the recent arrest of their alma mater's once beloved former football coach, Jerry Sandusky, for charges of 40 counts of sex abuse involving minors.

Jerry Needle, a 1986 graduate of Penn State, collaborated with fellow alumni to create Proud to Be a Penn Stater, self-described on the site as "a grassroots network of proud Penn State alumni...embarrassed and shocked by the recent events at Penn State."

The group has partnered with the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, or RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, in an effort to "mobilize to raise funds for the victims and put the focus back where it should be -- on the victims," Needle told ABC news.

Using the hashtag #ProudPSUforRAINN on Twitter and Facebook, the organization has already raised over $383,000, according to its site. The group hopes to raise at least one dollar for every student to ever graduate from Penn State -- a total of over $550,000.

RAINN spokesperson Katherine Hull told ABC news that the donations will go directly to support the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline, an instant-message based crisis intervention website.

If you'd like to support the cause, RAINN is accepting donations online.

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Comments

[americaforme]

11:29 PM on 11/15/2011

I cant understand why a outstanding university hasn't got a whatchdog outfit, that keeps tabs on these horrendous issues. Its real late to put the the horse back in the barn. We need to grow up as a nation and realize, human is not only spiritual, but indeed biological and with that said, anything can happen and it does. In this problem it takes years to recover, if they can recover. The personality is so damaged that to survive, they grasp unreality with a long rope, often to hang themselves with by all the bad decisions, they make for the future.

[smp65]

12:15 PM on 11/17/2011

Maybe this willl shed awareness on the issues you bring up.
There is a positive we can glean from this.
Penn State students and their alumni are good people.

[dakotanprudle]

05:11 PM on 11/15/2011

Great and fantastic! May god bless them and I do hope they exceed their goal!

[kjbarfarms]

03:55 PM on 11/15/2011

I would like to take this time to Thank, Jerry Needle for doing this. I hope that it suceeds its goal. I am not a graduate of Penn State. But I will do my best to make a contribution to RAINN...
THANKS JERRY