Maine pupils helping Afghan children

KENNEBUNK – Maine schoolchildren are doing their part to help children in Afghanistan.

Students at the Sea Road School in Kennebunk have raised $125 for America’s Fund for Afghan Children, a national program put on by the White House.

Lee Sampson, a pupil at the Sea Road School, said he asked his mother to write down the address of the fund after watching President Bush urge America’s children to raise money for the children of Afghanistan.

“I thought it was important to send money to the president so he could send it to the children,” said Sampson, who is 12. “They need food and clothes and medicine.”

White House officials said the campaign has raised nearly $1.5 million so far. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said contributions have come from all over the country, but it was impossible say how much had come from Maine.

“The response has been tremendous,” Lisaius said. “It’s amazing the way the youth of America have responded to help these children who don’t have food or medicine.”

At West Bath School, the 21 youngsters in Mindy Grover’s sixth-grade class sent Bush a letter Friday with the $100 they raised by washing dishes, mowing lawns and doing laundry.

“We talked about the percentages of Afghan children who are orphans or starving,” she said. “We separated our class and decided that only four of 21 students would have a home and be well-fed.”