Tsunami relief effort by area schools yields big returns
Board says more than $62,000 raised
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - Roderick Benns
Schools across the region have been raising thousands of dollars for the tsunami relief effort in southeast Asia and eastern Africa, often tying in their work with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board’s character education initiative.

Judy Malfara, communications officer for the board, says students and staff have now raised $31,356.65 for the relief effort, with the support of their school communities. This number rises to $62,713.30 when matched with federal funds.

Schools raced to meet the deadline set by the federal government, which had pledged to match all dollars raised before last night.

"I was so amazed and proud of students," says Christina Carey, a Grade 11 student at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.

Carey, who is also vice-president of her student council, says student home rooms were visited with Red Cross money jars passed around. She expected $500 might be raised, but in the end nearly $1,200 was gathered, or $2,400 when the federal government’s matching funds are allocated.

"This really helped promote compassion...for the whole world," says Carey.

"I think students realized they can do something about this disaster," she tells Grassroots Review.

The board of education is also impressed. "We are incredibly proud of students and staff," says Judy Malfara, communications officer for the board.

"The first day back from school students and staff were organizing, and a lot of schools are tying it all in with character education," she notes.

One of the 10 attributes within the character education initiative is empathy, which seems to be the attribute many schools are concentrating upon for January, given the tsunami crisis in Asia.

Malfara notes the board of education did not impose a board-wide initiative, since the grassroots base of schools and communities had already mobilized. Instead, like the individual schools, the education centre and community education centres also did their own fundraising.

"So many of our communities and schools have already started the work, that we (the board) thought we’d work alongside schools" to make the best effort, she says.

"Individual schools set up their own dances, pyjama and hat days and penny drives," among other ideas, Malfara says.

For instance, James Strath Public School held a ‘dime, quarter, loonie’ fundraiser with the Grade 4 class of Kris Hickey overseeing the coin campaign. Additional donations from funds raised from the proceeds of the drink machines at the school was also made.

Kenner Collegiate Vocational Institute and Intermediate School had ‘Tsunami Toonies,’ a week of collection to raise cash for the Red Cross. And at North Cavan Public School, the students decided to have a 'hat day,' where students could pay a toonie and wear their hats to raise money for the relief effort.

Malfara says many schools will continue with their fundraising efforts, even though the federal government’s matching dollars program has ended.