Hearts in the right place

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Columnist

Kihei High School students want the U.S. Treasury to mint a commemorative coin for those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attack using more than 200,000 tons of steel recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center.

The students think the coin would be a fitting — and accessible — monument to those who lost their lives and a continuing reminder of the American spirit.

Gwen Tamaru's fourth-grade class at Manoa Elementary School is collecting 7,000 pennies to represent the victims of the attack and taping them to a tabletop. The pennies help give the students an appreciation of the magnitude of the loss.

Meanwhile, Iolani School students have been folding origami cranes as symbols of peace, hoping to fold 1,000 total and put them along the art building. Other students are raising money for the Red Cross, folding red, white and blue ribbons, and writing essays and poems for school publications.

Ten-year-old cancer victim Rochan Pinho has raised $3,000 so far for the September 11th Fund by selling buttons around town. He'll be in front of Liberty House Ala Moana from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. He vows to continue selling them until he has raised $10,000.

The Lions Clubs of Hilo and Puna donated all the proceeds from their annual 'Akaka Falls Lions Club Funfest to Sept. 11 victims. The $1,142 raised was sent to Lions Club International to help Lions in New York and Washington.

Hawaiian.com, the people who provide all those free Live Aloha stickers, has joined Faith Riding Company and the Surf and Sport Industry to sell "Faith in America T-shirts." All the profits go to the United Way September 11th Relief Fund. Log on to www.hawai ian.com for information.

Send your stories of aloha for Sept. 11 victims to Advertiser columnist Mike Leidemann. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadertiser.com