Iolani students to treat military children
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
An unruly heap of dollar bills and rolls of coins on a folding table at Iolani School might help bring some smiles to Hawai'i children with a personal stake in the war.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
With dollars handed over by Iolani parents and loose pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters dug from the bottom of their own backpacks, Iolani students raised an estimated $1,500 in four days to benefit the families of troops on deployment for the war in Iraq.
Iolani students count the cash they collected in a fund drive to lift the spirits of children of troops deployed in the Gulf. From left, Peter Kagawa, Kevin Tomisato and Jenna Arnold.
At a school with few military students, something about the months-long deployments, uncertainty of war and stress on families left behind tugged at the hearts of a group of Iolani students.
Members of the Leo Club, a school service group related to the Lions Club, came up with the idea of sponsoring a quick fund drive for military families. They gave up their spring break to seek the permission of school officials to write letters to be sent home to parents, make posters and organize the fund drive.
The money will purchase scrip that can be used at the school's "Rumble in the Jungle" Family Fair April 25 and 26, one of the largest school fairs in the state.
Sarah Fargo, wife of Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, agreed to handle the distribution of the scrip to families of deployed troops.
Also at the fair, there will be a booth where kids and parents can write letters to the crew of the Pearl Harbor-based USS Cheyenne, which the school has decided to "adopt" with the help of the Fargos. It was the Cheyenne crew that fired the first Tomahawk missile opening the U.S. attack on Iraq.
"We can't really do anything for the troops except for the letters," said sixth-grader Peter Kagawa, 12.
Kevin Tomisato, 17, vice president of the Leo Club, said the students wanted to help military dependents because "it's hard for the families."
The Family Fair, with its games, rides and free entertainment, might be a nice distraction for children worried about their mother or father at war, Tomisato said.
The fund-raiser started Monday morning and ran through Thursday. Students and volunteers started counting the money yesterday.
Envelopes to collect the money sat on every teacher's desk; in the Student Activities Office, a 5-gallon water jug became the main depository of student donations.
"I think a lot of people put in change from their wallets and got money from their parents," said sixth-grader Jenna Arnold, 12.
Parent volunteers who are helping to organize the Family Fair said they were amazed at how quickly the students organized the coin drive.
Lucy Kagawa, Peter's mother, said of the Iolani students and the military children: "I'm not sure who gets more out of it in the end."
