Funds Being Collected for Orphaned Boy

The tips made by $5.75-an-hour ice cream store workers might not seem like much to anyone except those workers.

But put them together and they add up. So throughout last weekend, the teenage servers at Coastal Cone in Ventura Harbor emptied their tip jar into the donation box sitting beside it.

The box--one of many around the harbor shops--was put there to aid 9-year-old Barrett Korber. Barrett was left orphaned earlier this month when his father, harbor patrolman Paul Korber, drowned while saving a family that was caught in a riptide.

Barrett’s mother, who was also a harbor patrol officer, died of cancer three years ago. Barrett is now living with other family members.

It is with Barrett in mind that so many harbor waitresses, fishermen and store clerks have cleaned out their pockets or tip jars of whatever they can spare. They want to help secure Barrett’s future in whatever ways they can, they say.

“The box here is taking in about $125 every day. We have to clean it out every night,” said Andria’s Restaurant manager Randy Gravelin.

Gravelin said the restaurant’s employees, earning $6 or $7 an hour, have donated $400. “I think it’s partly because Paul was a regular here.”

Ventura Harbor’s commercial fishermen also are raising money for the fund.

“This is a tight little community in the harbor and everyone knew Paul. He took care of us,” said Kip Whited of the Ventura County Commercial Fishermen’s Assn. “So it’s very personal.”

Other fund-raising events include:

* On April 4, Harbor Chrysler Plymouth in Ventura will donate $10 in the name of each of the first 100 people who drop by to test drive a car.

* On April 7, Skating Plus in Ventura will hold a “Skate for Barrett” roller-skate night. The $5 skating fee will go to the fund, and per-hour pledges, a barbecue dinner, silent auction and a prize drawing will also be featured.

* A fishing tournament is in the works, the proceeds of which will go to the fund.

Also in April, the Ventura Port District will hold a harborwide memorial service, said operations manager Scott Miller, who was Paul Korber’s boss.