MENOMONIE - Some UW-Stout students are doing their part to help children in war-torn northern Uganda.

A table was set up from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday in the Memorial Student Center and will be there again on the same times and days next week. Students staffing the table are accepting $10 donations for T-shirts imprinted with "Invisible Children" and "Find Them: Invisible Children."

Lauren Johnson, 21, a senior majoring in retail management, said after seeing adocumentary in September on the issue, she wanted to raise money to help children in the east-central African nation. T-shirt sales proceeds will go to Gulu Senior Secondary, a school in northern Uganda.

"The documentary was so moving," she said. "I thought, 'I have spare time. Why not try to donate it to help raise money for the students in Uganda.' "

The students involved in the fundraiser are taking part in a Schools for Schools challenge. The campus that raises the most money for the Ugandan schools can send a representative to the country to see how the money helps students there.

More than 20 years of war have devastated the standard of education in northern Uganda. Schools for Schools addresses the need of rebuilding secondary schools and providing supplies and books to children. Since its start in 2007, the program has raised more than $4 million.

Children live in poverty and fear of being abducted to fight in the war, Johnson said.

The war has been ongoing since 1987, resulting in the displacement of up to 1.5 million Ugandan citizens and the deaths of tens of thousands. A brutal rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, who is under indictment by the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has conducted countless raids into northern Uganda from bases in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The LRA has been accused by the U.N. and other international groups of attacking, raping and terrorizing civilians and abducting children to serve as soldiers, laborers and sex slaves.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday a documentary about the children of northern Uganda will be shown in the Memorial Student Center's Ballroom B.

The Schools for Schools Stout Style group made the T-shirts. The group had planned to raise money by cleaning homes as well, but there was not enough interest.

This is the first time UW-Stout has taken part in the Schools for Schools fundraising effort.

Bekah Johnson, 21, a junior in apparel design, said she decided to get involved because of the poverty facing children in northern Uganda.

"These kids don't have anything," she said. "It's that thought that makes you want to give back to others."

Powers can be reached at 715-556-9018 or pamela.powers@ecpc.com.

If You Go

What: "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," documentary about the child soldiers of northern Uganda.

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: Ballroom B, UW-Stout's Memorial Student Center, Third Street East at 10th Avenue East.

Information: www.invisiblechildren.com.