Day in pajamas awakens student spirit of giving

There are a lot things Drew Wilson could have spent $42 on.

A new toy, for one -- you can never have too many green Power Rangers.

But when the 7-year-old learned that his school was raising money for tsunami victims, he knew where his combined birthday/allowance money should go.

He and his father, Windall Wilson, had talked about the devastation that struck South Asia in late December.

"A tsunami is a big, big, big, big, big wave," he explained, stretching his arms out wide. "It killed thousands of people. Five thousand people, I think."

Last week, an Alma Schrader Elementary parent organized a fund raiser for the tsunami victims. In exchange for donating $1 from their own allowance, students were allowed to wear their pajamas to school Friday.

A single dollar didn't seem like enough to Drew. The first-grader called his dad, who was away on a trip to St. Louis, and asked about donating all of his savings.

"I think it meant more to them than to me," Drew said. "They can buy things to build houses and toys for the children."

On Friday, he was among a sea of bright flannel- and fleece-bedecked classmates, wearing his own red Power Ranger pajamas and smiling a big toothless smile (he knocked his second front tooth out Thursday night biting a basketball).

With Drew's help and the contributions of the school's other 306 students as well as teachers, Alma Schrader raised $432 for the American Red Cross.

"Our thoughts were we wanted the children affected by the tsunami to have good and pleasant dreams," said principal Ruth Ann Orr.

cclark@semissourian.com

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