More than 80,000 youths attending elementary and secondary Catholic schools in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are being asked to donate at least a dollar and to wear a hat to show solidarity with the more than 3 million people devastated by the Jan. 13 7.0 earthquake that shattered the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

"This is a very unique opportunity not only for us adults but especially for children to learn about tremendous disasters that happen far, far away from us," Cardinal Roger Mahony said during a Jan. 15 press conference at Our Lady of Loretto School in Los Angeles that kicked off the "Hats for Haiti" relief effort.

"We're all aware of the devastation, the loss of life, the injuries, the loss of jobs - the loss of everything by these people in Haiti," the cardinal noted. "So the archdiocese is responding in many ways, but I'm very grateful that we have the children and young people involved as well in a way that makes sense for them. We're here to join the great humanitarian effort from throughout the world, especially through churches that are stepping forward in many ways to be of assistance to these people."

The cardinal, who has visited Haiti twice in recent years, pointed out that an anonymous donor has pledged to match up to $100,000 of what is raised by Catholic school students during Jan. 19-22. The money will be collected by the archdiocese's Holy Childhood Association and wired directly to the Archdiocese of Port-au-Price.

"Hats for Haiti" was the brainchild of April Luchonok, principal of Sacred Heart School in Covina. At the conference, she explained that it was both "traditional and typical" for Catholic school students to respond to local, national and global tragedies. She said the hat idea came to her because she knew kids of all ages liked to wear them.

"Basically, we're trying to get the message across that our children can make a difference in our world," Luchonok said. "And if we're going to bring peace to our world and we're going to build a better world, we need to start with the children and we need to teach them moral responsibility. Certainly in Catholic schools, that is a huge part of what we do every day in living our faith."

The superintendent of elementary Catholic schools for the Los Angeles Archdiocese praised the San Gabriel Valley principal for her initiative. Kevin Baxter said it was another example of how the Catholic school community "can catch fire and really mobilize" to do good in times of terrible tragedy.

"It's where our students truly learn about the world, about the challenges that many, many people in the world face on a daily basis that they don't face," Baxter said. "So the educational component is very, very important. This concept of stewardship and concept of service is something that we want our students to have ingrained in them by the time they leave our schools."

After the noon press conference, the principal of Our Lady of Loretto School on Union Avenue told The Tidings that her 217 students quickly became aware of the natural disaster in Haiti through TV and the Internet. She said teachers were already incorporating lessons about the horrific event into their social studies, religion and other classes.

"Our education is faith-based," stressed Fidela Suelto. "We read all of these great stories from the scriptures, so now it's time to apply our faith and put it into practice. There's that charity that we all must teach the children how to give back. And this Hats for Haiti is a great model to show that generosity."

Seventh-grader Monica Boliva also thought the hats campaign was a good strategy because kids right now are into all kinds of knitted hats and caps. "Catholics should help whatever they can do - donate money, have dances, free-dress days, bake sales," she pointed out. "But I think the hats is a brilliant idea, and we're doing it for a worthy cause which is really cool."

Classmate Brianna Rojas agreed. "I'm really glad that we're actually helping other people around the world who have suffered during this tragic moment," she said. "It's part of our Catholic education because God always told us to help others."

Many local Catholic schools have started their own relief fund efforts. Cathedral Chapel School in Los Angeles, for example, raised more than $3,000 in just two days for earthquake survivors in Haiti.