Lunch time at Oak Harbor High School now offers a musical interlude designed to part music lovers from their spare change.

The musicians are members of the high school’s Key Club and the money raised benefits tsunami victims.

The musicians will donate the money to Mercy Corps, a charity based in the Pacific Northwest that is involved with tsunami relief efforts.

Lisa Esperum, a senior and Key Club member who helped organize the fundraiser, said students will raise money one week a month in the coming months.

In addition to collecting money at lunch time, students plan to approach local businesses and ask for donations. Esperum said the group is drafting a letter to present to local businesses.

Any money collected with go to help people in countries ravaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami — a disaster that stemmed from a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The resulting waves left an estimated 150,000 people dead and millions homeless in countries from Asia to Africa.

Esperum has some first-hand knowledge of disasters. The present situation reminds her of when she lived in Hawaii in 1992. That was when she saw the damage and chaos caused by hurricane Iniki.

“As a community we became so tight,” Esperum said. “I figured I should help them out with this.”

Key Club members started planning their fundraising activities Monday evening, the first day after returning from the holiday.

“We were just brainstorming on what we can do to help raise money for tsunami victims and I play the guitar so it worked out perfectly,” said Bobby Ceresola, a senior and Key Club president.

During lunch he donned a duct-taped hat and played his guitar while fellow students dropped any money they could donate.

Coupeville

does its part

Students at Oak Harbor High aren’t the only ones helping victims of the disaster.

Students in Coupeville who are planning a trip to Thailand this summer are spending the first part of the year preparing disaster relief kits to go to Thailand.

Those kits consist of one blanket, one hand towel, a bar of soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a box of Band-Aids, a small bag of cotton balls and a roll of 2-inch gauze tape.

The students involved in the Thailand trip are collecting materials throughout the week and are putting them together on Monday.

People wishing to donate items can still drop off items at several locations, including the Island Pet Center in Oak Harbor, Videoville, Branch Business Services and Lind’s Pharmacy in Coupeville, and all fire stations in Fire District 3.

The kits will go to World Concern, a Seattle-based charity already helping with relief efforts in Thailand.

Terry Welch, a science and Spanish teacher organizing the trip, said there are currently nine to 10 students and several adults scheduled to take the summer trip.

She said the trip is still scheduled because the areas they planned to visit received minor damage from last month’s tsunami.