Fort Simpson (Jan 14/05) - Their language, culture and religion may be different, but the anguish felt by tidal wave victims halfway around the world moved Thomas Simpson school's student council.

Last week, the students decided to hold a fundraising dance and place donation cans around the community. After counting the bills, coins and cheques on Tuesday, they had a total of $1,150. That money will go to the Red Cross to aid devastated residents in places like Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Those countries were left in ruins by the Dec. 26 tsunami. The ever-rising death toll was reported to be 156,000 as of Tuesday.

'Everything is gone'

"It's the biggest natural disaster to ever occur," said student council member Jeffrey McKay, 12. "The people who were living there didn't have it as easy as we do now, so I guess you could say they didn't deserve it, especially on Boxing Day."

Fellow student Jackie Thompson, 14, added, "When you look on TV it's all sad. Everything is gone and they have nothing to look forward to. If they have help, maybe they can rebuild."

Student council president Mitchell Byatt said he was motivated by a student he saw on television who challenged his peers to raise money for the Tsunami Relief Fund.

"We've done stuff like that before so it seemed like a good idea to me," said Byatt, 16, who added he was horrified by the image of a tsunami victim holding his dead son on the front page of the Economist.

Student council at TSS has a solid track record of rallying for causes. The pupils previously helped the Run for the Cure, Samaritan's Purse and the Badger, Nfld., flood relief effort.

Didn't need any prodding

Teacher Teresa Bezanson-Byatt said the students didn't need any prodding to take action.

"They look at it as a little bit of a challenge," she said, noting there was an air of competition within the school to raise the most money.

The Roman Catholic Church and the CIBC have also been accepting donations for tsunami relief in southeast Asia.