Washington Township student Andrew Stephens, 12, raises money to help victims of tsunamis.
By: Lauren Burgoon
WASHINGTON Since the devastating tsunami waves swept across south Asia leaving death and destruction behind, relief money has been pouring in from all over the world. Governments have pledged huge amounts, private citizens have chipped in with countless millions, and here in Robbinsville one 12-year-old boy on a go-cart armed with a flier and determination is doing all he can to raise money for the tsunami victims.
Andrew Stephens embarked on his tsunami donation drive after watching news reports with his parents. Appalled at the pictures depicting victims and ruined villages, Andrew knew he had to help in some way. The result is a donation collection that he hopes to take communitywide.
"I saw the pictures (on the news) and I felt really bad for those people. I started collecting money the next day," said Andrew, a seventh-grader at Pond Road Middle School.
He printed up a flier appealing for help and began traveling through his development, Crestwood Acres, and other adjoining neighborhoods on his go-cart. He has been roving nearby streets since then on the lookout for people who want to donate and passing out fliers. Family and neighbors have been generous, with most people giving around $50, Andrew said.
"I have $1,424 so far," he said after an updated count on Monday.
His ultimate goal is to donate the money in lump sum to the American Jewish World Service when he reaches $2,000 or "when the money stops coming in," as Andrew put it.
The $2,000 goal was not even something Andrew had in mind when he set out to aid the tsunami victims. He began the drive, which is doubling as his bar mitzvah project, with $1,000 as the magic number. But many people have opened up their wallets to help so Andrew said he wants to keep going to get as many donations together as possible.
Andrew’s mom, Jodi, is proud that her son took up the cause.
"Part of being bar mitzvahed is learning to make the world a better place. It’s part of the learning process to becoming a responsible adult," Ms. Stephens said.
Andrew is taking the lesson to heart. It’s not the first time he has seen a need and taken the initiative to help people. Earlier this year Andrew and others at his temple held a party for kids at HomeFront, an emergency shelter in Lawrence, where they organized games and donated gifts
"They aren’t as fortunate as me and they didn’t have the same opportunities, so I wanted to help," Andrew said.
But he realized that the tsunami, the largest natural disaster in decades, especially needed his attention even though the victims are half a world away. At his home on Monday Andrew spoke about seeing pictures of the devastation and realizing just how large the human toll is as he watched the number of dead inch up.
"At first they were saying 60,000 (dead) and I thought that was a lot," he said. "Now they are saying 140,000 and the number keeps going up… I heard that the waves hit with the force of a jet plane. I saw people running but they just didn’t have any hope of getting away."
The number of dead stands at more than 150,000 as of this week, with millions left homeless and hundreds of thousands of children orphaned or injured. While many organizations are hastening to get relief money to the regions hardest hit by the tsunami, Andrew plans to sit on the donations for several weeks until he has a larger amount.
"It’s not a rush. They need money now for things, but people will need to rebuild their homes. They are going to still need money two years from now," he said.
The nonprofit American Jewish World Service, to which Andrew will send the money, will use the funds to send medical supplies and food to Asia. He is hoping to far surpass his goal within a few weeks and have a reason to take his go-cart out for more fund-raising trips.
To help Andrew with his collection effort, mail checks payable to American Jewish World Service to Andrew Stephens, 8 Wilson Court, Robbinsville 08691.

