Pine Tree students send $500 to Katrina charity

Monroe — Give most kids $500, and there’s a good possibility their first stop would be the mall. But the students of Room 109 at Pine Tree Elementary School had something far better in mind with the money they raised over the past few months: they’re sending it to a charity to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. In late 2005, the fifth-graders, with help from their teacher, Bob Barlow, wrote and recorded the song “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.” They then produced a CD single containing the song, and began selling it through local merchants, at school events, and on the internet. Since the project began, about 400 copies of the disc have sold, enough to cover the cost of production, with $500 left over to send to the charity AmeriCares. The children chose the Stamford, Connecticut-based charity because it describes itself as “a non-profit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization that provides immediate response to emergency medical needs, as well as supporting long-term humanitarian assistance programs for all people around the world, irrespective of race, creed or political persuasion.” Although Barlow’s students are proud of their achievements, they know that a lot more work lies ahead. “We still have almost 600 CDs left, which means we could raise around $3,000 if people bought them all,” observed one class member. “Five dollars (the cost of one CD) isn’t a lot to pay to help people who are suffering.” For more information, or to purchase a CD, go to www.gonnabeok.com, or write to rbarlow@frontiernet.net.