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American Morning

U.S. Children Helping Raise Money for Children in Afghanistan

Aired December 04, 2001 - 9:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has asked America's young people to raise money for children in Afghanistan, and in some communities children are doing odd jobs in that effort. That is the subject of today's segment we call the Spirit of America. CNN's Hena Cuevas tells us about efforts in one Los Angeles neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENA CUEVAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven-year-old Adam Koran is on a mission --

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ADAM KORAN: Is it okay if we -- rake your leaves for $1?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUEVAS: -- raking as many yards as he can to help the children in Afghanistan.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're willing to rake leaves for that?

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CUEVAS: Adam is one of thousands of children around the country sending money to the America's Fund for Afghan Children, a program started by President Bush more than a month ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm pleased to report that in just a few short days, children all across our country have responded.

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CUEVAS: The White House is asking kids to send in a dollar to help provide food and medicine to children caught in the war. So far the fund received one and a half million dollars, and a quarter of a million letters.

Like the ones from the students at Castille (ph) Elementary in Southern California. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANDICE THURMOND, FOURTH GRADER: It doesn't look so good sometimes. People are at -- kids are out on the streets. Some of them don't have families. It doesn't look very nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUEVAS: The closing of the White House off-site mail processing center, because of the threat of anthrax contamination, held up the letters for over a month. But the Red Cross, which administers the program, says that didn't stop children from helping out.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really has been mobilizing them and empowering them to reach out to other parts of their world and help.

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CUEVAS: Child psychiatrist David Feinberg says these kinds of fund-raisers gave families a sense of control, especially when trying to explain the events of September 11th.

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DAVID FEINBERG, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST: Any activity where parents are with their children, and they're able to talk about what's going on, able to listen to kids, and hear their feelings an concerns, is healthy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUEVAS: Adam visits another house, and gets more than $1 for his efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $5 be enough?

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CUEVAS: His total? $22.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KORAN, ADAM'S MOTHER: He saw the leaves and just said, this would be a good idea. I can -- I can do this. And so, we started one day, and he just wouldn't stop.

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CUEVAS: Helping those in need in a land far away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM KORAN: Only one more house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUEVAS: One yard at a time. Hena Cuevas, CNN, Los Angeles .

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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