The ISU College Republicans tailgated Saturday to raise approximately $500 for Operation Iraqi Children, an international effort to buy and ship school supplies to Iraqi schools for use by their students.

The College Republicans collected money from other tailgaters and explained how they were going to put together kits of school supplies to send to Iraq, said Donald McDowell, treasurer for the ISU College Republicans.

“Anything we make is beneficial,” said Benjamin Cameron, senior in political science.

More than $500 has been raised, which will be enough to send “quite a few” school supply kits overseas, said McDowell, sophomore in political science.

“Any time you can make money and send school supplies [to Iraq], you’re helping with their education,” Cameron said.

The College Republicans’ goal was to raise as much money as possible.

“We have some of our students walking around with milk jugs collecting donations,” McDowell said.

“A lot of people have been generous with their money.”

A school supply kit includes a pair of scissors, a ruler, pencils, a pencil sharpener, a large eraser, colored pencils, notebook paper, a composition book, folders and a zippered pencil bag, according to the Operation Iraqi Children Web site.

“It’s some really basic school supplies to get a good start on a good educational foundation,” McDowell said.

Operation Iraqi Children’s goal is “to provide every child in Iraq’s 1,500 schools with educational tools and supplies, and to have them delivered by soldiers based there,” according to the Operation Iraqi Children Web site.

The school supply kits will enhance the education of Iraqi students, which will lessen the amount of terrorism in Iraq, McDowell said.

“If those young Iraqi children get the education they need, they will learn terrorism is not a solution,” McDowell said. “An educated society will turn against terrorism … turn towards freedom.”

“We take [school supplies] for granted over here – anything we can do is beneficial,” Cameron said.

The College Republicans will ship the school supplies to the Operation Iraqi Children warehouse in Kansas City, McDowell said.

“An agency will disperse them,” McDowell said.

“They have a way of tracking which ones are ours – we can see the fruits of our labor, so to speak.”

Operation Iraqi Children is allied with People to People International and FedEx, which pay to ship the supplies to Iraq, according to the Operation Iraqi Children Web site.

The tailgate was one of the first main fundraisers the College Republicans have done to help the operation, McDowell said.

To see how you can get involved and for more information on Operation Iraqi Children’s school supply program, visit www.operationiraqichildren.org.