JFK students raise money to aid tsunami victims

Surrounded by students, Peer Mediator sponsor Kathleen Wood collects envelops with money Friday at Kennedy Middle School in Gallup. Students in the Peer Mediators program have collected money to donate to victims of last month's tsunami. (Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent)

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — As soon as they heard about the tsunami disaster, members of the Peer Mediation group at JFK Mid-School knew they had to do something about it.

"It made me feel really sad to hear about it," said Collette Vandever, a seventh grader at the school and president of the organization.

She and others in the organization have raised about $300 which they plan to send to a tsunami relief organization to help some of the hundreds of thousands of families who were affected by the earthquake and tidal wave off the coast of Indonesia right after Christmas.

Sara Maynerich, vice-president of the organization, said she and others felt so bad after hearing the news report that they felt they should do something to help those who have survived.

More than 150,000 people so far have been reported to have been killed and tens of thousands more are still missing.

Maynerich said she decided to collect as much money as she could from her family and Vandever said she also went around and collected money from her neighbors.

About 45 students at the school are part of the Peer Mediation program which provides a chance for students to handle many of the complaints that arise within the study body.

Maynerich said that many members of the group have seen the new stories about the tragedy that has been broadcast on television for the past three years. Many of the teachers at JFK, she added, have also talked about it in their classes.

For the most part, Maynerich said, students asked family members and neighbors their change and brought the money in daily to the school, where it was counted.

"We hoping that the money will help a little," Vandever said.