FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Students Raise Money for Quake Victims
Students at Roch Courreges Elementary School collected pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters last week and raised $190 for earthquake victims of Kobe, Japan.
Principal Lorraine S. Leavitt donated her penny collection. Teachers and parents also dropped change and bills into the big water jug during the weeklong money drive at the school.
Student Council members stayed after school Friday to count the money. The money has been turned over to a relief fund for Kobe families. Students also wrote letters to their counterparts in Japan, hoping to gain a few pen pals.
Fifth-grader Jamie O’Day, 11, said students wanted to help because the people of Kobe are in need of food, clothes and blankets following the devastating earthquake that hit Jan. 17.
“They lost their homes and they didn’t have any clothes or food,” said Jamie, the Student Council treasurer. “They really didn’t have anything after the earthquake, so it feels good to help them.”
The fund raising, Leavitt said, helped “students learn to appreciate that there are things they can do as children to help other children and adults.”
“I’m real proud of them,” Leavitt added.
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