Pupils' pajama collection benefits soldiers in Iraq BY TALI ISRAELI Staff Writer Marlboro Middle School students were permitted to wear pajamas to school as a reward for their participation in a project that collected pajamas for American troops serving overseas. The pupils are pictured with student council adviser Lauren Kolanovic. MARLBORO - A charitable donation recently turned into a pajama party at the Marlboro Middle School. In conjunction with the PTO and the Deceased Officers Parent organization, the middle school's student council members organized a pajama collection to donate to wounded soldiers in Iraq. The Deceased Officers Parent organization is a group of mothers and fathers who have lost a child in the line of duty as New York police officers. The organization sends items to troops overseas. The group's goal is to keep the memories of their sons and daughters alive by adopting military platoons in Iraq and ensuring that the soldiers are receiving items they use on daily basis, according to Marlboro Middle School PTO Vice President Charlease Hatchett. The student council wanted to help the organization in its fundraising efforts by collecting pajamas from pupils at the middle school. As motivation for the youngsters, anyone who donated a pair of pajamas was allowed to wear their own sleepwear to school on March 2. The student council's goal was to collect one pair of pajamas from every student, according to student council adviser and seventh-grade social studies teacher Lauren Kolanovic. "My job is to convey the kids' ideas to the rest of the community. I'm glad they are thinking outside of the middle school box and building a bridge with the global community," Kolanovic said. Hatchett agreed with Kolanovic's sentiments and said, "I am happy and excited that the kids decided to be civic-minded in a way that helps support the troops. It is important to let [the troops] know they are thought of. It is nice for the kids to have civic responsibility as part of their education." The 300 pairs of pajamas that were collected will be picked up from the school, and the New York Police Department will mail the donations to Iraq, according to Hatchett. In addition to collecting the pajamas, the school's Bridge Builders group wrote letters to the soldiers. Eighth-grader Adam McRabito, who is president of the student council, said he believes the donation generated an "extremely good response" from the pupils at Marlboro Middle School. He attributed the success of the pajama drive to the idea behind the collection. Adam said he believes the students wanted to get involved in this particular fundraiser because donating the sleepwear would have a substantial impact on the troops. Melanie Wildman, student council vice president, said she believes this is a cause that many people have a personal connection to because there are students and faculty members who know someone who is fighting in Iraq. In one of her classes, Melanie said, she wrote a letter to her classmate's uncle who is a soldier in Iraq. The response allowed the pupils to get a sense of why they should be so thankful to the troops and why a pair of pajamas is so important to them, she said. "It's not just something they wear, [the pajamas] are so the troops know we care about them," Melanie added. Adam agreed with Melanie and said the donation is important because it shows the troops they have support, which could boost the morale in Iraq. The student council organizes several fundraising events throughout the year, which usually benefit the school and its students. However, Adam said, this project was more profound than previous fundraisers because this one benefited the soldiers. James Harold Hatchett was one of more than 100 students who participated in the collection. Sending the pajamas to the troops is important because it provides them with the comforts of home, James said. The student council's next fundraising project will be Pennies for Patients with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in which boxes will be placed in the cafeteria for students to donate their spare change. The pupils said they chose this organization because the disease is something that affects many people, since almost everyone knows a person who has or had cancer.