Jacqui Brown
HILLSIDE DISTRICT-- Students at St. Bellarmine Catholic School could
have celebrated Valentine's Day traditionally, exchanging cards and
hunkering down around a plate of cupcakes.
Instead, they walked Monday to raise money for victims and
survivors of the tsunami in South Asia that killed more than 200,000
people.
Before Monday, the school had raised more than $5,000 to support
relief efforts. The walk-a-thon Monday bumped it up to nearly $10,000
to Support Sisters of Charity and orphanages in Galle, Sri Lanka,
where money will help hundreds of children, Principal June Rosena
said.
For each step they took along the 1 1/2 -mile route, winding their
way through the streets around their school, no one -- including the
dozens of parent volunteers -- seemed to notice a long incline as
they walked to help children thousands of miles away. Students from
kindergarten through eighth grade wore bright-red T-shirts and looks
of pride.
"I saw a lot of children our age suffering, and I thought, 'What
if that happened to me," said Cesar Garcia, 12. "I thought about how
terrible it was, kids losing their mothers, being separated at the
hospitals and not knowing where their real mothers were. So, that's
why I'm walking today, to help raise money for them."
The walk was a chance for students to see that there is a bigger
world than their own in Burbank, said Pastor Lawrence Signey from St.
Robert Bellarmine Church.
"Part of our job as Christian people is to share what we have with
those that are needy," Signey said. "It's putting their faith in
action."
Taylor Castanon, 12, received several hundred dollars in pledges
from his mom and other family members. He said everyone was more than
happy to support the cause.
"This walk means a lot because many of their homes were
destroyed," Taylor said. "Their lifestyle was completely dismantled.
They need this money to rebuild civilization."
Even Burbank Mayor Marsha Ramos joined a group of students at the
walk.
"I can't think of a better way to start my day than to come out
here and see this whole school dressed in red, ready for Valentine's
Day and walking to raise money for the tsunami victims," Ramos said.
"They're doing an excellent job."
The school has been raising money ever since the tsunami struck on
Dec. 26 and staff and students found out they had a close connection
to the tragedy.
St. Robert Bellarmine kindergarten teacher Wyomi Fernando was in
Columbo, Sri Lanka, visiting her family when waves came ashore. She
had planned a trip to a small village called Yala, which sits right
on the ocean's edge. Relatives talked her out of the trip, because it
would have cut into their vacation time too much. Fernando's cousin
and her husband were not so lucky. They took the trip and were
killed, Fernando said. The school will continue raising money and
sending it throughout the year, Rosena said.
