• Howick and Pakuranga Times

PIGEON Mountain School held a mufti day last week to help raise funds for victims of China’s earthquake.

The event raised $673.40 and will go towards helping survivors who were affected by the earthquake that struck China on May 12.

Pupils were asked to dress in the traditional Chinese mourning colours, black and white, and donate a coin to the cause.

The fundraiser follows an appeal from bilingual educational advisor Song Lam, who is keen to join the Chinese community in raising funds.

She has worked for Pigeon Mountain School and at other eastern schools in a supportive role for about 12 years.

“I wanted to alert the parents to do something and ask them to donate,” says Ms Song Lam. 

“It is a very terrible situation where we should support each other.”

She asks parents to make donations to the Consulate General of the PR China in Auckland where their contributions will help support emergency relief efforts in China.

To express her appreciation Song Lam says she will give away copies of her two books, Famous New Zealanders and My new life in New Zealand, to parents who have donated to the appeal.

Her books are used as reference books in local schools and she says, “I want to give them to parents so they can support their children at home”.

On her visit to the school she says it was ‘impressive’ to see that the children had drawn a map of China in front of the school office and lined the donated coins around it.

Parents from Pigeon Mountain School have since donated a further $750 to the appeal.