As Randal McCloy Jr., the lone survivor of the Sago Mine explosion, continues his treatment at West Virginia University’s Ruby Memorial Hospital , WVU student organizations are uniting to offer their support to McCloy’s family and the families of the 12 miners who died in the disaster.

From Tuesday, Jan. 10, through Friday, Jan. 20, the Student Health Advisory Board and Student Government Association will set up booths in the Mountainlair and Health Sciences Center . People who stop by can express their condolences to the families of the 12 lost miners on a large banner and also sign a large card for McCloy, who remains under the care of WVU doctors.

Lisa Costello, president of the Student Health Advisory Board, said that while students have been away on a three-week winter break, the miners and their families have been in students’thoughts and prayers.

The Mountaineer family has always responded to state and national tragedies, and I know we will do so once again,Costello said, citing recent Katrina, Tsunami and 9-11 relief efforts.Our fellow West Virginians in Upshur County and neighboring communities are going through a terrible ordeal, and mobilizing a University-wide effort to support them is under way.

WVU student leaders plan to deliver the messages, along with a floral arrangement and other expressions of sympathy, to the Sago community at an appropriate time.

Students also established a Web site with e-mail capability to send messages of support and sympathy from members of the University community to the miners’families. The messages will be compiled and placed in a booklet to be delivered to the families at a future time.

Other spring semester plans call for planting a tree in memory of the deceased miners and marking it with a bronze plaque; holding an educational forum; sponsoring a blood drive in honor of the miners; and staging a food drive for a local pantry in their memory.

Costello said all student organizations are encouraged to develop additional ideas of support.

The WVU Center for Civic Engagement, formerly the Office of Service Learning Programs, is coordinating WVU ’s response to the Sago Mine accident. Send details of any efforts to assist the miners’families to Franchesca Nestor at franchesca.nestor@mail.wvu.edu or Kim Colebank at kimberly.colebank@mail.wvu.edu , or call 304-293-8761.