Family works for rebuilding

Of all the harrowing images of Hurricane Katrina, the ones that

affected Will Laidlaw the most were the photographs of the houses

demolished in the Deep South.

“We knew a lot of homes got wrecked,” said the 10-year-old Newport

Elementary School student. “Almost every day, there’d be pictures in

the newspaper.”

After the hurricane hit, Will and his family -- including his

mother, Cheryl, and younger brother, Andrew -- held a family meeting

in the kitchen to decide what to do to help Katrina victims.

Thousands in the community were already donating to the American Red

Cross and other large-scale charity organizations, but with the

newspaper images fresh in their minds, the Laidlaws opted to grant a

family something that few in Newport Beach lack: a house to live in.

Three weeks and one intense grass-roots campaign later, the

Laidlaws presented $22,000 to Habitat for Humanity in a ceremony on

the school’s flag deck.

“It just required the kids to approach people,” Cheryl Laidlaw

said. “A lot of it came from neighbors, and a lot just came from

strangers. It was great.”

When the Laidlaws decided to help Habitat for Humanity, they made

a list of about 20 children in the neighborhood who could help in the

cause. According to Cheryl, they enlisted friends from each part of

Newport Elementary’s attendance area to ensure that the word got

around.

The movement blossomed quickly, as students set up a lemonade

stand, sold bracelets and knocked on doors to solicit donations. Will

and Andrew set up a table at the OP Newport Classic in September,

donating water to the surfers in exchange for funds.

Kelly Swift, a mother of two who lives on the Balboa Peninsula,

distributed 700 fliers around her neighborhood inviting residents to

mail contributions to Newport Elementary. When big waves hit Newport

Beach on the weekend of Sept. 16, her children and their friends set

up a hot dog and water stand on the beach to accommodate the many

visitors.

“God sent us a big wave, and we took advantage of that

opportunity,” Swift said.

Habitat for Humanity, an Orange County-based group, uses

nongovernment donations to build homes for needy families.

This fall, the nonprofit will start creating home-in-a-box kits to

be shipped to Katrina victims. Laidlaw said the money the students

raised is about one-third the cost of an entire home.

Last Friday, the students presented their funds to Habitat for

Humanity in a house-shaped box. Since then, however, the donations

have continued. Laidlaw estimated that the school, to date, has

raised around $24,250.

Newport Elementary itself is not involved in the fundraising, but

at times, the staff feels as though it is.

“I’ve had people come off the street, just residents who don’t

have children here, and give me checks,” said Joanne Shaw, a front

office assistant at the school. “Somebody’s getting the word out.”