Penn Museum donates admissions proceeds to typhoon relief efforts

While the museum offered free admission on Sunday, patrons were given the opportunity to donate money

By Alex Zimmermann 12/02/13 2:50pm

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology donated about $3,000 to typhoon relief this weekend, in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan’s devastation in the Philippines last month.

The Penn Museum donated its proceeds from admissions on Saturday to the American Red Cross’ typhoon relief effort. While the museum offered free admission on Sunday, patrons were given the opportunity to donate money to the museum. The donations made on Sunday will also be given to the Red Cross.

“We’re an international museum with international collections,” Pam Kosty, assistant director for public information for the Penn Museum, said. “With this, we just wanted to offer some help, and it seemed like a good time with Thanksgiving and the holidays.”

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The Penn Museum has donated to charitable organizations before. As part of an exhibit on display for the past several years, “Righteous Dopefiend: Homelessness, Addiction and Poverty in Urban America,” the Penn Museum has made donations to several homeless organizations. In October, it offered free admission to furloughed federal employees during the government shutdown.

Haiyan is the deadliest natural disaster in the history of the Philippines, with a still-rising death toll of over 5,200 people.

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“I think $3,000 toward the effort is great,” Kosty said. “Everybody gave a little, and a little adds up to hopefully saving some lives and helping some people.”

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