Two Wheaton students start drive for Japan

When 11-year-old Tatum Orr and 10-year-old Sophie Kozee first heard of the devastation following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that ravaged Japan, they wanted to do something to help.

Sophie said she was amazed at the destruction.

“When I saw it, I was really scared,” she said. “It made me sad because we are lucky and we don’t have earthquakes or tsunamis.”

The two Wiesbrook Elementary School fifth-graders met and e-mailed Principal Brian Turyna at their Wheaton school to see what could be done.

Within days, Turyna and the two students resurrected Paws for Pennies, a fundraising drive that last year sent money to the United Nations Children’s Fund after the earthquake in Haiti.

“They said, ‘We want to do something to help people in Japan,’ ” Turyna said. “I was absolutely thrilled.”

On March 11, a magnitude-8.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Honshu, Japan, and sent a wave estimated as high as 75 feet toward the coastline. The death toll of the quake and tsunami has hit about 9,700 and continues to rise. Soon after the quake, news channels showed footage of cars being swept away by the tsunami and survivors searching piles of rubble that had once been buildings.

This footage prompted Tatum and Sophie to act.

“This was so terrible, I really wanted to help out,” Tatum said.

Paws for Pennies places collection boxes in each classroom at the school. Additionally, the girls said they asked fellow students to do chores at home to earn change that could be donated.

Turyna says he has made helping others a key part of the school’s education since he took over four years ago.

After a short planning session when school resumed March 14, Turyna asked the girls to announce the new drive during the morning announcements.

Tatum said her friends told her she did a great job on the announcements and, she said, she was excited because it was her first time doing so.

As of Tuesday, the drive had collected about 80 pounds of change.