SCHOOL NEWS : Twins Hope to Cash In on Ambassador Program

They were told it would be impossible for two teen-agers to raise $8,000 in three months. But, with a little hope and a lot of help from friends, the 16-year-old La Puente twins are almost there.

Joann and Talolo Lepale, juniors at Bassett High School, were chosen in January to participate this summer in the People to People High School Student Ambassador Program. People to People is a nonprofit organization that takes selected students from around the United States on learning trips to different parts of the world. Students are chosen on the basis of academic achievement, community involvement and recommendations from teachers and counselors.

The students chosen must pay their own way; People to People had set an April 1 deadline for the fee of $4,000 per student. That meant $8,000 for the Lepale twins, whose mother is a hospital worker and father is a mechanic.

The twins, their parents and little sister collected cans and newspapers. They held a carwash and a yard sale. And they sent out 110 letters to clubs and organizations in the San Gabriel Valley asking for donations.

Donations and pledges came from neighbors, local doctors, pharmacists and shop owners, friends and co-workers. The largest donation came from the American Legion, with the help of Tom Golden of the Monterey Park American Legion Post. Golden had heard about the twins’ fund-raising efforts and started collecting money from the other 30 American Legion posts in the San Gabriel Valley. The Legionnaires donated $1,620, Golden said.

Although the twins have their passports ready, the fund-raising isn’t over yet. Their mother, Yonneta Lepale, said some of the pledges are still not definite, and the twins will need spending money. The Lepales have sent half the money; People to People has extended the fee deadline for the twins to May 10.

In the meantime, the family is planning another carwash and yard sale.