Mt. Rainier High School teacher Kari Robins is an avid volunteer. Two summers ago she went on a volunteer vacation to Costa Rica and Panama to help rescue endangered sea turtles and manatees.

This year she has a new mission. Her destination this time is Haiti.

"I knew I wanted to do another volunteer mission this summer and [I] was looking into Guatemala and Africa," says Robins. "Then when the earthquake hit and the need was so dire, it didn't even seem like an option!"

Schools, she says, will remain closed for many more months and so her task will be mostly to give an education to orphaned children.

"Being a teacher, I am so excited to help in this way," says Robins.

Robins' trip will be for five weeks and will cost her about $3,000.

"I am doing a fundraiser," she says. "A 'Parent's Night Out' at the end of this month, but I could really use all the help I can get."

The fundraiser will be on March 19 at Seahurst Elementary School, 14603 14th Ave. S. in Burien, from 5 -10 p.m. and on April 23 at Mt. Rainier High School, 22450 19th Ave. S. in Des Moines, at the same time. The cost is $20 per child and $10 per each additional sibling.

Robins says she will also gratefully accept donations at Mt. Rainier. Her contact number is 206-631-7078.

Robins will be doing her volunteer work through Global Volunteers Network. She will arrive by plane in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and live in a tent on a secure compound with other volunteers.

She will work in an orphanage and at two camps for internally displaced persons.

The Web site for the program is: http://www.globalvolunteernetwork.org/haiti/.