THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090279
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
One woman pulled up to the Thalia Shell Station and dropped off 50 cheeseburgers for students who were washing cars to raise money for their fire-ravaged school.
Another Good Samaritan delivered a check for $250. Still others gave $100 each, while the owner of a car-washing company donated a 5-gallon bucket of car soap.
The list goes on: boxes of office supplies, offers of office space, copy and facsimile machines, furniture and food. And the carwash tally so far: $13,300 and counting.
From nearly every corner of the city, donations have poured into the hands of Princess Anne High School students who, in the spirit of public service, are raising money for programs and supplies lost in the blaze Sept. 1 and presumably not covered by insurance.
One week after an arsonist's fire swept part of the city's oldest high school and disrupted the lives of thousands, the community has responded with a measure of pride that has gratified parents and school administrators.
``People just gave us money and didn't want their car washed,'' said Donna E. Mirabile, a Pembroke Meadows resident whose daughter, Tiffany, 17, is a Princess Anne student. ``We can't count the number of people who handed us $100 checks.''
Friday night at Green Run High School, an estimated 2,000 students and parents attended a meeting to learn more about changes that have taken place in the school's curriculum and schedules. Information on the changes was mailed to parents Friday.
``Business will carry on as usual,'' said Princess Anne High's principal, Pat Griffin.
To keep the small army of car-washing students happy and fed, several local restaurants provided free food. Pizza Delight gave away free pizza, and Chick-Fil-A gave away sandwiches. Both restaurants are located within Pembroke Mall.
The Pizza Hut at Independence and Virginia Beach boulevards donated several pizzas and drinks for two days, as did a Chanello's outlet. Pepsi distributors gave away drinks, and local radio stations Oldies 95.7 and Eagle 97.3 donated air time to encourage people to stop by.
The more people brought, the harder the teenagers worked.
``You should have seen these kids light up when the pizza arrived,'' said Terri Johnson, the station's head cashier. ``These are kids that every parent would dream of having.''
Central to the students' efforts has been Bill Edney, the gas station's owner, who not only gave the students free water to run the carwash but who has agreed to donate a penny for every gallon of gas sold. Students have run the carwash at Edney's station since Sunday. Today they'll move to a Texaco station at Independence Boulevard and Pleasure House Road.
Farm Fresh announced this week that through the end of this year, five of its stores and the Rack & Sack on Virginia Beach Boulevard would donate 2 percent of all Gold Card customers' bills to the cause. The offer excludes alcohol and tobacco products.
Mary Jane Bakery followed Farm Fresh's lead and agreed to donate 2 cents from the sale of each of its products sold at participating Farm Fresh stores.
It may be the nature of philanthropy that many donors will remain anonymous, and parents and school administrators were quick to say that hundreds of people have helped.
``People can be assured that donations will be managed properly,'' said Anne Meek, an associate superintendent for Virginia Beach schools.
``Data bases are being maintained so that we can later acknowledge contributions where we can.''
The money is being deposited at a Central Fidelity bank. All branches are accepting donations.
Leigh A. Conner, who works at Coffease, a drink kiosk at Little Neck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, said she would donate her tips for the week to the fund. And her employer, S&G Coffee, of Norfolk, has said it would match whatever Conner raises.
``I only attended Princess Anne High School for the first semester of my sophomore year, but I have lots of friends who went there,'' said Conner, who graduated from Cox High School. ``It's a tragedy and I just think that every little bit helps in a situation like this.
``A lot of sentimental things were lost and cannot be replaced,'' said, Conner, a 28-year-old with two daughters. ``So a little extra could mean a lot.''
Conner normally makes about $4 or $5 a day in tips. ``But yesterday it was like $20 and today could be another $20 day, so with the company matching the week's tips, we're looking at about $100.''
Pat Bowles, a parent who has helped guide the student-run carwash, said the money will be spent after a committee composed of students, faculty, parents, administration and alumni is set up.
``The committee will make the decision,'' said Bowles, whose daughter, Sara, 16, is a senior and president of the Student Council Association.
``It will not be spent by anything covered by insurance. This money is for things to help teachers, clubs, school and instructional activities that will suffer because of no fund raising.''
Douglas L. Bowles, Pat's husband and a certified public accountant with the Norfolk firm of Edmondson, LedBetter and Ballard, is helping oversee the fund. Bowles said the committee has not been formed yet because so much energy is being devoted to actually raising money.
``There are so many people wanting to help out and so many ideas coming forward that it's overwhelming,'' Bowles said.
``If I had a list of everyone, we might not have time to get finished. Some have dropped off business cards and want to help, local merchants, individuals, even national companies.
``We're not trying to rebuild the building. This is supplementary to that. We want to return the teachers and the students to the classroom as quickly as we can.'' MEMO: Individuals and organizations wanting to donate labor, money or
equipment can call Princess Anne High Principal Pat Griffin at 473-5000
between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. or call Linda Champion, the citywide
School-Business Partnership coordinator, at 427-4611 to leave a message
day or night.
SPECIAL ED UPDATE
About 200 special education students housed in the West Building at
Princess Anne High School will have to be temporarily moved to the
following locations, when classes start Tuesday:
All general education students, and students with educable mental
retardation, specific learning disabilities, and serious emotional
disturbances, will be assigned to Celebration Station from 7:35 a.m. to
12:35 p.m. daily, not including lunch.
All students with trainable mental retardation are assigned to
Celebration Station from 7:35 a.m. to 2 p.m., including lunch.
Students with multiple disabilities, those with severe and profound
disabilities, and those with autism are assigned to Pembroke Elementary
from 7:35 a.m. to 2 p.m.
These are temporary assignments. These students are expected to
return to the West Building of the school Sept. 18.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Mort Fryman, Staff
Leigh A. Conner...
KEYWORDS: FIRE PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL by CNB