Pupils at North Augusta Middle School have shown their willingness to help those who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina.
"Most of the people in the eighth grade gave their allowance," said eighth-grader Amelia Roland.
On Monday, North Augusta Middle Principal Barry Head presented Aiken County Red Cross Manager Christy Dvorscak with the pupils' donation of nearly $2,000.
Not only did they give up their allowances, but the children also decided to forgo snacks at the school's canteen and donate the money they would have spent to help others in need, he said.
"It's been a crazy three weeks," said Ms. Dvorscak. "This is the third school that's contacted me saying they'd done a fundraiser. This is the first time I've heard of students giving up their snack money."
Mr. Head said the school could have raised more than the $1.962.54 it donated had parents been asked to contribute to the Red Cross, but it was a pupils-only activity.
He said some of the pupils at North Augusta Middle have helped hurricane victims in other ways.
"At First Baptist Church, they were loading trucks (of relief supplies) and kids from our school were there helping their parents," he said.
Children have kept up with the news and know what's going on in the hurricane-ravaged states of Louisiana and Mississippi, Ms. Dvorscak said.
"They want to do something (to help), like adults," she said.
Ms. Dvorscak said the donations would be a great help. As of Monday, the Aiken County Red Cross chapter had assisted more than 100 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
"Most of them are living with friends or family, but some are already renting apartments in North Augusta," she said.
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