Students find many ways to raise funds for tsunami victims Students find many ways to raise funds for tsunami victims (April 27, 2005)

By Kate Daly

Special to the Almanac

Menlo School in Atherton has raised about $22,000 to aid tsunami victims, and students say they plan to raise a lot more before the school year ends in early June.

On April 30, for example, a group of freshmen hope to bring in donations by setting up on-campus carnival booths for games, food and musical groups.

In another effort, students plan to make and sell paper flower corsages and boutonnieres at next month's prom.

Community Service Director Todd Hardie says the fundraising effort started in January when the school established a "soup day," when the only food served in the cafeteria was soup. This saved close to $1,000 for the cause.

From then on, student awareness grew, he says, and senior Julia Martin designed a red T-shirt with the words "restore, give, and rebuild." Sales of the shirt brought in $3,000.

Middle School students put on bake sales and raised about $5,000.

Junior Austin Brown belongs to a band of local high school musicians who put on a concert at Menlo on April 16 that raised more than $5,000 in donations.

Two juniors who crew, Jim Patell and Lloyd Carney, recently set up stationary rowing machines on a sidewalk in Palo Alto and accepted pledges of nearly $1,600.

Mr. Hardie says with the exception of some private donations that were earmarked for the Red Cross, all the funds are being pooled so they can be distributed in June to the three relief organizations selected by a group of teachers and students: Give2Asia, Americares, and Sarvodaya.

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