Oscar Izenson wore an oversize sombrero to O'Hara Elementary School on Friday as a way to raise awareness for Haiti relief efforts.
Classmate Chloe Yofan donned pink and black Minnie Mouse ears and Jack Yousem strutted around with a brown stuffed turkey leg on his head.
"We need to get the people in Haiti some money for houses and things that they need," Oscar, 8, said.
"I heard a lot of people were hurt," Jack said. "Some people who have brothers and parents and stuff got separated. We need to help them."
The fundraiser "Hats for Hope for Haiti" was quite simple but most successful.
By donating any dollar amount, students could wear a hat during class. The event raked in $3,623, said kindergarten teacher Beth Ivins, who coordinated it with librarian Karen Fornari.
The money will benefit the Hospital Albert Schweitzer, or HAS, in Deschapelles, about 40 miles outside the capitol of Port-au-Prince.
The hospital is in urgent need of medical supplies to treat the inundation of people injured and subsequently suffering from infections after last week's earthquake.
"Medical supplies that would normally last a month were consumed in the first day after the earthquake," according to the hospital Web site.
"While supplies have made their way to Haiti through the unprecedented international aid effort, frustratingly, the
supplies are not currently reaching HAS."
The Haitian medical team, comprised of more than 500 personnel, is supported by surgeonsand staff arriving from around the world.
Locally, Pittsburghers are doing their part to help as well. Volunteers from Garfield-based Global Links are working feverishly to replenish supplies at HAS. The group recovers unused medical supplies, equipment and furniture from the U.S. health care system for distribution to hospitals and clinics that serve the poorest areas of the globe.
In collaboration with UPMC, Global Links currently is deploying items most needed, which include sutures, crutches, antibiotics, bandages and X-ray film.
About $50,000 worth of antibiotics and other medications donated by UPMC were prepared for shipment last week.
"With Global Links fielding donations and coordinating the collection and shipping of materials, we are able to act quickly and efficiently, eliminate duplication of effort, and ensure that the items collected meet the specific needs of doctors working on the frontlines of this horrific disaster," said Global Links Executive Director Kathleen Hower.
O'Hara Elementary staff hopes to hand over the money raised on Hat Day during an assembly on Feb. 2 when local children's author Karen Williams will speak with students. Williams spent several years in Haiti working at HAS.
"When we realized what a connection we had with Karen Williams coming, we wanted to do something to help," Ivins said.
Though her students are young, many grasp that the hats were more than just a way to have fun during school.
"We talked about how there was an earthquake and many of them brought in a donation without even wearing a hat," Ivins said. "Everyone was very generous."
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