`Operation Care-Lift': Two San Diego Dads Fly UPS Cargo Plane Filled with Kids' Donations to Houston; Principal, Student Accompany Plane; Star of Hope, Food Bank To Receive Items for Distribution to Evacuees.

HOUSTON -- When K-12 students of the San Diego Jewish Academy and their parents launched a community-wide hurricane-relief donation drive over Labor Day weekend, they had no idea their efforts would result in enough new and gently used items to fill five 18-wheel trucks.

And when two San Diego-area dads, Allan Goldstein and Dean Birnbaum - who also double as pilots for UPS - grasped the enormity of their community's generosity, they and their employer offered to transport the items on a full, UPS-donated Boeing 757 to Houston to be distributed to area relief centers.

Today, the plane, dubbed "Operation Care-Lift" - loaded with 145 pallets of toys, books, diapers, bicycles, water, clothing and more - will land at Houston's UPS terminal. Waiting on the runway are four UPS trucks, which will take the items to Star of Hope and the Houston Food Bank to be distributed to evacuees.

Initial word of the school's donation drive was received last week by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, which mobilized on September 1 to facilitate donation offers from Jewish communities, organizations, synagogues and individuals around the country. The Federation's Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Task Force also includes staff and volunteers who are helping match Jewish evacuees in Houston with housing, job placement, elder care, health care and more.

Lee Wunsch, CEO of the Federation, said, "In the days since Hurricane Katrina first struck the Gulf Coast, our local Jewish community - and the North American Jewish community - has reached out to the victims of this catastrophe in numerous ways, from donating carloads, truckloads, and now, planeloads of supplies - and also contributing in excess of $10 million to the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort. The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston is honored to work in partnership with organizations like the Star of Hope and the Houston Food Bank to help meet the needs of the tens of thousands of evacuees who now call Houston their 'home away from home.' And we feel blessed to be associated with the students and faculty of the San Diego Jewish Academy who are making a difference in countless lives by this most generous donation to the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort."

The San Diego donation drive was the brainchild of Dr. Jeffrey Davis, Upper School principal of the San Diego Jewish Academy, who said that kindergarten through twelfth-grade students and their parents took the initiative to expand their effort by creating flyers, sending emails, calling friends and approaching local vendors and retailers.

"We strive to teach our children the importance of being caring and compassionate to others," said Dr. Davis. "This outpouring of emotion and effort by our children was so gratifying, and what they achieved absolutely exceeded our wildest expectations."

Added Wunsch, "At the San Diego Jewish Academy, it seems as though the students are learning four 'R's,' rather than the usual three: reading, writing, arithmetic, and rachmanus, which is the Hebrew word for 'compassion.' In that subject, these K-12 students truly are making the grade."