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Donations support LAHAINA >> A new private school where a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. was ripped to pieces during a burglary last week has received several donations, including a portrait of King.
vandalized school
The Maui students receive a
new portrait of the Rev. M.L. KingBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.comMaui pop artist Davo Sherman, who donated the portrait, said he wanted to help the West Maui Carden Academy after hearing about the vandalism. The portrait of the slain civil rights leader is a serigraph done in a technique similar to the late Andy Warhol's portrait of Marilyn Monroe.
To acknowledge the contribution by Sherman and others, students yesterday recited a speech by King promoting racial harmony.
"Donations such as these are beautiful examples of how community members can truly make a positive difference in our society," said school Director Marjorie Deigert-Richardson.
The Lahaina school, serving about 50 students from kindergarten to third grade, has had a rough first year since opening in September.
The academy suffered $16,000 in damage from a flood earlier this year and was burglarized last week between 5 p.m. Feb. 13 and 7 a.m. last Thursday.
The school had been studying King's life during Black History Month, and his picture was hung above a classroom blackboard next to a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
School officials discovered profanity and a racial slur against King written on the blackboard and the theft of five laptop computers worth $9,000, along with personal items.
Since the burglary, the school also has received a donation of a computer, boxes of ice cream and more than $1,000 in cash from various individuals, as well as Sacred Hearts School, said Deigert-Richardson.
Alert Alarm of Hawaii donated an alarm system.