Lewiston Middle School students and two adult organizers are behind fundraisers they hope will benefit drought-stricken Somalia, where tens of thousands of children have died as parents look for water and aid.

“We’re helping people who do not have anything, Zam Zam Mohamud of Lewiston said. “They’re dying because of starvation, not just because they don’t have medicine. When you have a 6-year-old who looks like an infant, there’s something wrong.”

When Mohamud approached local redemption centers, she found Lewiston Middle School’s Pamela Ericson and her students had already organized a bottle drive. They joined forces.

Ericson, an English language learners teacher, said her summer school students read “A Long Walk to Water,” a book about Sudan, but that led to talking about Somalia. Some were getting sad updates from back home.

“I don’t know how much they’re being told, but they’re all seeing the news,” Ericson said. “I feel like as a community, we need to acknowledge what they’re going through and do something to help.”

Many of those same students participated in a Lewiston Enrichment After-school Program  summer camp. Ericson and LEAP children organized the drive. Bottles can be dropped off at the Lewiston Redemption Center on Lisbon Street, any Rooper’s location or Florian’s Market in Auburn in the name of UNICEF East Africa Drought through the fall.

Their goal: $2,000. The bottles are just the beginning.

Mohamud has pulled together a car wash from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Getty station on lower Lisbon Street.

“Even if we get $2, it’s better than zero,” she said. “Our goal would be to get more, but you never know with the economy.”

People looking to help, volunteer or offer other fundraising ideas can each Ericson or the middle school’s LEAP coordinator, Dwayne Conway, at 795-4180.

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