Published Thursday, May 6, 1999 In the starfish story, two men are walking on a beach covered with starfish. As one man threw starfish back into the ocean to keep them from dying, the second man asked, "What difference does it make? You can't help all of them."
The first man responded, "I just helped that one."
Mrs. Andolina is hoping people will respond to the Kosovar refugees in the same way.
"I think people's hearts are very tender because of the crisis in Kosovo," Mrs. Andolina said.
The First Assembly of God in Hermitage -- in connection with the Assemblies of God Health Care Ministries -- is collecting Flintstone vitamins and used eyeglasses to help the children in Kosovo.
"We want to challenge parents of healthy kids to buy vitamins or write a check for $5," Mrs. Andolina said.
"If you're watching the news and thinking, 'what can I do,' there is something you can do," Mrs. Andolina said. "This is something tangible. It's definitely worth the $5 or sending the vitamins."
The Rev. Michael A. Sabella, associate pastor of the First Assembly of God, said the church is collecting Flintstone vitamins because they are recognized worldwide. If the people in Kosovo receive an unknown brand of vitamins, they destroy them, he said.
"The children are so malnourished that (the vitamins) speed up the process of getting nourishment back into their bodies," Sabella said.
Sabella said the church heard about the need for the vitamins at a church convention on April 18. The church began collecting vitamins that Sunday.
The church is also collecting used eyeglasses for the Kosovo refugees. The glasses are sorted by prescription and then given out to people with the same prescription.
Sabella told a story of a little girl who received glasses for the first time, looked up at the sky, and wanted to know what those things were up there.
"She had never seen clouds before," he said.
Anyone who wishes to donate money, vitamins or eyeglasses can drop them off at First Assembly of God, 1455 N. Keel Ridge Road, Hermitage.
The vitamins must be Flintstone vitamins with iron and must have an expiration date of 2000 or later.
