Almaden Resident

Community

Students rally to help their own

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

Presentation High School's motto, "Not words, but deeds," was heard loud and clear during the last two weeks of school in May.

Although the girls were busy taking their last finals, completing projects and getting ready for graduation, they rallied together once more for one of their own.

First Lt. Kari (Burke) Haravitch, an Almaden Valley resident who graduated from Presentation in 2000 and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2004, had just been deployed to Afghanistan for a minimum one-year tour of duty. She is serving as the assistant to the battalion commander, 27th Engineers Battalion.

Haravitch sent an email to her former English teacher, now Principal Mary Miller, asking for help. Her troops were feeling down and needed a pick-me-up, she wrote.

"It doesn't surprise me at all that she reached out to us," Miller says.

The two had a close relationship when Haravitch was in high school.

"I was a softball fan and she was a talented catcher on the team," Miller says. "I watched her play a lot and also taught her English class."

Since they first met during Haravitch's sophomore year, Haravitch spoke to Miller of her dreams about going to West Point.

Haravitch, whose family lives in the Almaden Valley, has kept in touch with her teacher and visited Miller and the rest of the faculty every year since she graduated.

"Kari's not a whiner," Miller says. "She doesn't feel entitled to be pampered in the military. She's a gutsy young woman, so she must have needed this."

But Haravitch contacted Miller during the second to the last week of school, not the best time for drives of any kind.

"But I appealed to the girls anyway and read a portion of Kari's letter over the loudspeaker," Miller says. "I told them that if we didn't help, who would?"

The foyer began filling with donations, Miller says.

"We got DVDs, CDs, and 3,000 phone cards within the first week," Miller says. "Some students brought money in for postage." The parents also became involved and started asking around at work, collecting even more.

The drive snowballed, and alumni from all over the country started emailing each other and spreading the word.

"It got out of our control real fast," Miller says. "But it's been heartwarming and amazing."

Computer teacher Adrienne Renner coordinated and collected 140 care package boxes within the first week. The students collected books, video games, toys and candy. Everything on the list Haravitch sent was completely met.

"But then we realized how much postage was going to cost us so I went onto KNBR radio and made an appeal to get help with the postage," Miller says.

The response was immediate.

The principal of Bellarmine College Preparatory heard Miller's plea and offered to take care of the first shipment of 110 boxes, nearly $1,000.

"We even had a police officer, Officer Moreno, on the same day of the radio broadcast come in on his break, in full uniform, and write us a check for $100," Miller says.

The donations keep coming. By May 31, between 600 and 700 minutes in phone cards had been donated, Miller says.

Haravitch's mother, Darlene Burke, helped coordinate and pack donations every afternoon.

"Kari was hoping for a little something," says Haravitch's mother, Darlene Burke, " but nothing to the extent of what she is going to be getting. She's going to be shocked."

Renner says the effort was nothing short of amazing.

"My daughter Tina always looked up to Kari," Renner says. "She's an awesome leader and serving our country well. We like to support our alumni whenever we can."

Renner says all of the teachers responded "quite enthusiastically." About a dozen people came up with ideas on how to bring everything together efficiently and quickly.

On June 1, the school shipped out 10 more care packages.

"It was a huge undertaking," Renner says. "The spirit of the school was evident. We respond when there was a need. The kids truly lived up to the school's motto."

To donate used DVDs, CDs, video games, phone cards and other goods, send packages to Kari Haravitch, HHC, 27th Engineer Battalion, FOB Orgun-E, APO AE 09354.