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Teens raised thousands of dollars for Hurricane Katrina survivors

Bell High School
Raised $5,000 (as of 9/29) sent to the Auxilliary Services of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which will forward it to the Red Cross

How: Bell students have participated in a bake sale, homeroom collections, a school talent show and sold ice cream, bracelets, caramel apples, spirit banners and candy. Students are planning another bake sale, as well as other fundraisers.

Comment: Johanna Velasco, a 12th grade leadership student said, "I feel satisfied because I made a difference in their lives."
—Reported by Ashley Zartner, 17, Bell HS



Fairfax High School (Los Angeles)
Raised $3,700 sent to the Auxilliary Services of LAUSD, which will forward it to the Red Cross

How: Students visited classrooms with donation envelopes, saying "Give ’till it hurts."
—Reported by Victoria Imtanes, 15, Fairfax HS



Florence Crittenton Center
(Los Angeles)
Raised $800 for the Red Cross

How: One of the adult staff members at the group home for teens and teen mothers collected the money.

Comment: "Most of us don’t have a job, so $800 was a lot to us," said Dilcia Preza, 17.



Harvard-Westlake School (Los Angeles and North Hollywood)
Raised more than $1,000 for the Red Cross

How: The student council ran a bake sale and set up large water bottles around campus where people could make donations.
Also: The middle school campus admitted a student who had to leave his home in New Orleans.
—Reported by Kendall Bass, 16, Harvard-Westlake School



Los Angeles Center For Enriched Studies (L.A.C.E.S.)

Raised more than $2,000 sent to the Auxilliary Services of LAUSD, which will forward it to the Red Cross

How: Student body representatives visited all homerooms each morning for several weeks with donation buckets.

Comments: "It’s a catastrophe and something we’ve never seen before in our country," said the leadership advisor Randy Rutschman.
"There are people starving and living under horrible, unsanitary conditions. I donated almost every collection day because I feel it’s the least I could do," said Bryant Cabrera, 15.
—Reported by Mindy Gee, 15, L.A.C.E.S.



Loyola High School (Los Angeles)
Raised $5,045 for the Red Cross

How: The Loyola water polo teams (freshman/sophomore, junior varsity and varsity) had their parents donate $5 for every goal their teams scored during a game against Northwood High School on Sept. 8. The Cubs scored a total of 21 goals.

Comment: "It was awesome to see our parents give that much money, it really motivated all the teams to not only win but win big," said Travis Addante, 15.
—Reported by Joseph Addante, 16, Loyola HS



Millikan Middle School (Sherman Oaks)
Donated more than 2,000 pairs of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste to the Salvation Army

How: Students from Mrs. Baris’s homeroom visited all the other homerooms for two weeks to get the hygiene products.

Comments: "Some people are just unfortunate and just because this did not happen to us doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help. You know, I believe in karma and good things will happen to me and anyone else who donates," said Zach Mitchell, 12.
—Reported by Hayden Jacoves, 13, Millikan MS



Montclair College Preparatory School (Van Nuys)
Raised more than $300 for the Red Cross

How: Asked students for money during 2nd period.
—Reported by Fred Scarf, 15, Montclair Prep



New Roads School (Santa Monica)

From left, Sam Polzanski, 16, Matthew Grey, 16, Luis Ramirez, 15, and Randall at New Roads School in Santa Monica were part of a fundraising "silence-athon."

Photo by Katie Havard, 15, New Roads School


Raised more than $1,000 for the Red Cross

How: On Friday, Sept. 23, students held a fundraising barbecue with hamburgers and jambalaya. Then afternoon classes were cancelled and they spent two hours jumping rope in a "jump-rope-athon" or not talking in a "silence-athon." (Most students were not able to keep silent for the whole two hours.) The activities were organized by the student council, which passed out pledge forms beforehand so students could get sponsors for their efforts.

Comment: Alex Kessler, 17: "I wanted to participate in something that will help the people that have been rendered homeless."
—Reported by Katie Havard, 15, New Roads



Palos Verdes Peninsula High

Raised more than $5,000 for the Red Cross

How: The Associate Student Body (ASB) organized donation cans in each classroom.
—Reported by Beeta Baghoolizadeh, 17, Palos Verdes Peninsula HS



Pio Pico SPAN School (Los Angeles)
Raised more than $4,000 sent to the Auxilliary Services of LAUSD, for the Red Cross

How: The counseling office organized collections during homeroom.

Comments: "Watching the news and seeing how the people are suffering got me to donate," said Jackson Louis, 13.

"I like to care about people," said Chrystal Montoya, 13, who gave her allowance.



Ramona Convent (Alhambra)
Raised more than $4,000 for Catholic Charities

How: Members of student government and Campus Ministry collected donations in homerooms, theology classrooms and at the school’s "Welcome Back" dance. Students also gave by tossing money in a water fountain and making a wish and by buying " welcome grams."

Comment: "A lot of people now know what’s happening down there and they want to help," said Elizabeth Bartolini, 15.

Also: Mr. Laborie, the campus minister, said Ramona may adopt a girl’s school in New Orleans.
—Reported by Katherine Lam, 16, Ramona Convent



San Gabriel High School

Raised more than $900 for the Red Cross

How: Student Council members and the Executive Board (which oversees student activities) distributed envelopes to math classes. They also organized a Bowling Night and campus sororities collected donations.

Comment: "I mentally put myself in their situation and I would have appreciated it if I was them," said Steven Liang, 17.



Sierra Vista High School (Baldwin Park)
Raised more than $1,500 for the Red Cross

How: The Associated Student Body (ASB) members placed donation jars in classrooms.

Comment: "When the American people come together as one, we can become stronger than many nations … The government can only give so much without the power of the people," said Jay de Jesus, 17, the ASB’s chief financial officer, who donated $25.
—Reported by George Zuo, 17, Sierra Vista HS



Outside of school:

Harvard-Westlake jazz musicians organized a concert celebrating jazz and Dixieland culture at St. Michael’s church in Los Angeles on Friday, Sept. 30. Ninety-three people paid the $15 ticket price, with the addition of $701 in donations, raising $2,096 for the Red Cross.

Who: Musicians included Shea Sullivan, 17, Lisa Bass, 17, Isamu McGreggor, 16, and Jeremy Bonner, 17 of Harvard-Westlake and a combo from Hamilton High’s music academy with Travis Cook, 17 and Taylor Catlin, 17, to name a few. They played classic tunes such as "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?" "Bump in the Basement," "Fever" and "When the Saints Go Marching In."
—Reported by Andrea Domanick, 17, Harvard-Westlake School


Fred Scarf, 15, of Montclair College Preparatory School and Szimonetta Mulati, 15, of Viewpoint School, raised $98.75 for the Red Cross by baking chocolate chip, macadamia nut and double-fudge cookies and selling them for $1 each to neighbors in Sherman Oaks. "I didn’t feel my school was doing enough," said Szimonetta.

—Reported by Fred Scarf, 15, Montclair Prep