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U.S. children send money to Afghan kids

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Responding to President Bush's call for children in the United States to send money to help Afghan children, the American Red Cross has received over $580,000, the White House said Thursday.

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In his first prime time press conference October 11, the president asked that "every child in America ... earn or give a dollar that will be used to provide food and medical help for the children of Afghanistan."

"Their country has been through a great deal of war and suffering," he said. "Many children there are starving and are severely malnourished. One in three Afghan children is an orphan. Almost half suffer chronic malnutrition. And we can, and must, help them."

Since then, the Red Cross has received over 226,000 pieces of mail. Many more envelopes are sitting unopened in a warehouse, hostages of the heightened security surrounding mail sent to the White House.

America's Fund for Afghan Children is being administered by the Red Cross and the U.S. Agency for International Development.