Pushing education

Andrew Wainer

Hundreds of Oak View Elementary students sat expectantly on the assembly

room floor Thursday morning as Orange County Rescue Mission President Jim

Palmer stood before them and queried: “Have you ever thought of building

a rocket that could carry you all the way up to space? Or considered

working to uplift the needy in your community?”

Palmer’s question was posed to the students as a prod to stay in school.

Rocket scientists from the Boeing Corp., and social workers from the

rescue mission combined forces to donate more than 700 backpacks filled

with scholastic supplies to 760 low-income students at the Huntington

Beach school.

Orange County Rescue Mission’s Operation Backpack has given school

supplies to needy children throughout Orange County for more than seven

years, but this year’s major donor, Boeing, asked that the supplies be

given to a needy school in its own community of Huntington Beach.

“This is something we really believe in,” said Ronald Gath, Boeing

director for development. “People from different divisions of the company

donated their time and energy to help organize the operation.”

Oak View school officials said the supplies were badly needed and greatly

appreciated.

“Most of our kids do not have this stuff,” said Linda Collacott, program

coordinator. “For our kids these items are luxuries and will be well

taken care of.”

The backpacks, which contained rulers, pencil sharpeners, paper and pens,

drew “ohhs” and “ahhs” from students upon discovery of what was inside

their new backpacks.

“This is an investment,” Rescue Mission Vice President of Development

Linda Fujimoto said. “We want kids to stay in school, and if we give them

the tools to perform well academically, we are helping to work towards

that goal.”

The Orange County Rescue Mission is a faith-based social service agency

dedicated to helping the county’s poor and homeless residents. Its $13

million budget for 1999 is collected exclusively through private

donations; the mission receives no government assistance. This year it

teamed up with Boeing for the school supplies program.

Rescue mission officials drove home to students that the backpacks and

scholastic supplies were a bulwark against dropping out of school and

ending up homeless like so many people that the mission deals with.

“We care enough about you to bring you these backpacks because we want

you to stay in school and do a good job,” Shannon Lathrop said. “School

might get difficult and you might not want to do your work but if you do

your school work and continue with your education you will be less likely

to end up on the streets.”

Teachers and students said the supplies would make their jobs much

easier.

“Nobody in my class had a backpack,” first-grade teacher Margaret

Friedmann said. “Now my students can carry their books home with them so

they can practice reading.”

Students were equally excited: “These backpacks are cool,” said shorts

and T-shirt clad second-grader Darinel Vasquez said. “They will help with

my homework.”

The city’s liaison to the Oak View community, Sheri Medrano, underscored

the need of such supplies at the school and in the community.

“Most of these children’s families are earning below the poverty level,”

she said. “The parents might be making minimum wage, supporting a

household of six to eight people and that means they simply cannot afford

to buy these things.”