Fundraisers for Afghan children
help teach students about community
By Greg Tyler and Mark Oliva, Stars and Stripes
Mark Oliva / Stars and Stripes
The students in Diane LaMar's second-grade class at E.C. Killin Elementary School at
Okinawa's Camp Foster have raised $53 for children in Afghanistan, and they still have two
weeks to collect more money. |
A dollar can go a long way these days — as far as Afghanistan,
if some youths in the Pacific have their way.
From students on Okinawa to a soccer team in Sasebo, Japan, kids on
Pacific military bases stepped up to President Bush’s challenge to send $1 per
student to help aid children in Afghanistan.
Sasebo’s Revolution soccer team decided to take the president up
on the challenge. But they decided $1 per player wasn’t enough.
“They decided to hold the bake sale over three days, and all the
moms contributed homemade baked goods,” said Kim Cheatham, the mother of two members
of the team, Joshua, 12, and Joe, 9. “So now they are able to send $377 to the White
House.”
The sale took place at the base’s Hario Housing Village.
Cheatham said the community showed great support, and enjoyed the homemade cheesecakes,
cupcakes and cookies.
“They felt like they wanted to help, and since we are so far
from the States, this was a good way,” she added. “I read that one Afghan kid
can live on about $1 per day. If that’s so, we could feed a small city.”
Students of Diane LaMar’s second-grade class at Okinawa’s
Camp Foster also responded to the challenge.
Less than two weeks after the call, the E.C. Killin Elementary School
second-grade class raised $53. And they still had two weeks to keep collecting.
Why do these 7- and 8-year-olds feel the need to be so civic-minded?
Because the Afghans are so poor, said 7-year-old Shauna Bair. “I feel very bad for
them.”
“We’re trying to give them food,” said another
student. “A lot of them don’t have food.”
The kids aren’t going it alone. Many brought the challenge to
send a dollar to the White House to their parents, who chipped in as well.
“My dad said he’d give a dollar because he felt bad about
them, too,” said 7-year-old Hali Wilson.
The effort is paying off, and in more than just money raised. The
small children with big hearts are learning they have a stake in what’s going on in
the fight against terrorism, one that could call their parents away from home.
It’s not just this one class, though.
Parent and part-time substitute teacher Robin Barnotti put the
challenge to all grades in the school. She’s ready to reward their generosity, too.
The first class to get all students to bring in a dollar gets a pizza party in its
classroom for lunch. The second gets ice cream sundaes and the third class gets a popcorn
party.
“I thought it was a really neat idea,” Barnotti said of the
president’s call for dollars. “It’s not a lot of money. It could be
someone’s allowance for a day.”
Barnotti said she set the challenge to show the children they also
could be involved in communities outside their classrooms.
“It’s for a good cause and it’s coming from the
heart,” she said. “It might increase a child’s awareness and help the child
to know they could contribute.”
The drive for E.C. Killin ends Nov. 2, when the prizes will be
awarded.
Schools at Camp Zama also are collecting dollars. Sollars Elementary
School at Misawa Air Base is collecting “Nickels for New York.”
At Yokosuka Naval Base’s The Sullivans Elementary School,
students incorporated their dollar drives into other efforts, including fifth-graders
sending care packages to parents of their classmates who are deployed. Of the 51
fifth-graders, 19 have a parent at sea.
“People here are needing and wanting to do something,” said
Lori Chaney, a Sullivans teacher. “Just give them an avenue and they jump at
it.”
But the second-graders at E.C. Killin took their drive one step
further. They sent a package of letters to first lady Laura Bush.
“We said that we were praying,” one student said. But
that’s not all. They invited the first lady to visit the school, should the chance
arrive.
“We said, ‘P.S. Remember to bring your sunblock and
swimsuit,’” she added.
For more information on sending money for Afghan children, visit the
White House Web site at: www.whitehouse.gov,
or mail contributions to:
America’s Fund for Afghan Children
c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC, 20509-1600.
Fred Knapp, Wayne Specht and Joe Giordano contributed to
this report.
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