Among the many tsunami relief efforts initiated at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), GEAR UP American Samoa (GUAS) has distributed more than $20,000 worth of school supplies to students in cohort schools who have been affected by the October 29 th earthquake and tsunami. "We found that as many as 150 of the students in our partner high schools lost everything they owned during the tsunami," said GEAR UP Director Tupua Roy Fua. "And in the last month we received a significant contribution from Pima Prevention Partnership (PPP) to provide aid to these students."

"We need to help our GEAR UP students make the transition back to the classroom, so that they can avoid any delays or barriers to achieving their academic goals for this semester and the remainder of the school year," said Tupua. The GUAS initiated a plan to support the students in need by providing them with instructional school supplies such as backpacks, writing tablets, binders, paper, pencils/pens, pocket dictionaries, tee shirts, school uniform material, etc. GUAS identified the names of students from the GUAS Coordinators of the affected cohort high schools: Leone High School , Samoana High School , Tafuna High School and Nuululi Voc. Tech High School .

After GUAS sent a solicitation letter to all its partners, Pima Prevention Partnership (PPP), immediately responded by pledging a $20,000 cash donation in support of GUAS efforts to provide direct assistance to affected children. "PPP is our external research evaluator for GEAR UP, and a non-profit organization that has worked with ASG for six years," explained Tupua. "Their Executive Director Mr. Harry W. Kressler recognized the urgency of our situation and arranged for PPP Board of Trustees to contribute without delay towards helping the students who had lost their homes." GEAR UP also received generous support from local partners including the American Samoa National Olympics Committee (ASNOC) and Blue Sky Communications.

Since the school supplies for the GEAR UP relief effort just arrived last week, the staff has completed outreach visits to Matatula Elementary School in the East and Alataua/Taputapu Elementary Schools in the West thus far. GUAS staff visited Matatula Elementary on October 30 th to raise the students' spirits by providing a tent, over 200 tee shirts, coolers, igloos, and a variety of sports equipment such as footballs, basketballs, volley balls, soccer balls, a volleyball net, tennis kits, and ice cream as a special treat. The Matatula Elementary principal, faculty and students expressed their gratitude to GUAS for raising the school's morale by giving them a day of fun as well as distributing supplies.

GUAS also visited Alataua Elementary School , which has temporarily been combined with Taputapu Elementary School while the latter undergoes reconstruction.  GUAS distributed more supplies to approximately 400 students and was accompanied by staff members from ASNOC who helped organize sporting games with the students. "With our supplies now in hand, we'll continue visiting the affected elementary and high schools. Our intent is to motivate our students, lift their spirits, and ensure that they are securely back on track with the most basic instructional supplies for the semester," said Tupua. "We cannot afford to have our students fall short on their academic goals as a result of this disaster. We are grateful for the swift and charitable response from our agency partners, especially the Pima Prevention Partnership."

Hosted by ASCC since 2006, GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. A college access program created during the Clinton Administration, since its inception GEAR UP has improved educational outcomes for millions of low-income students across the United States by making available an extensive program of tutoring and other supplementary activities. For more information on GEAR UP American Samoa , visit their web page at www.gearup.as .