The news of the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's call to help raise funds for public school athletic programs has reached Philadelphia.

Maui's Shane Victorino, an all-star outfielder and World Series winner from the Philadelphia Phillies, donated $10,000 yesterday.

"Shane, on his own, called me. Not his handlers," said Keith Amemiya, executive director of the HHSAA who is spearheading the SOS (Save Our Sports) drive for contributions.

"He called and said, 'I want to help out, where do I send the check?' It was very nice of him."

Victorino is a graduate of St. Anthony High, a private school.

Victorino's is the latest in a flood of contributions that has surpassed $550,000.

The project kicked off July 28 with a total of $430,000 from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation ($200,000), First Hawaiian Bank ($100,000), Bank of Hawaii ($50,000), the GIFT Foundation ($50,000) and Amemiya and his wife, Bonny ($30,000).

Since then, contributions have come in from $20 to as much as $70,000 from Great Aloha Run/Carole Kai Charities.

DataHouse also contributed $25,000, and the HHSAA also received more than $20,000 from about 100 individual donors.

The Honolulu Advertiser will publish a list of contributors every week, similar to The Advertiser Christmas Fund project.

All money collected through the HHSAA SOS drive will go toward public schools hit by budget cuts that reduced their total state allocations by more than 35 percent.

To contribute, make checks payable to "HHSAA SOS Account" and send it to HHSAA, P.O. Box 62029, Honolulu, HI 96839, or visit any branch of First Hawaiian Bank (checks only) through Sept. 30.

For information, e-mail info@hhsaa.org or call HHSAA at 587-4495. First Hawaiian Bank will serve as collection points (checks only).