Giving Season in Full Force in North Bellmore

Giving Season in Full Force in North Bellmore

Students throughout the North Bellmore School District have been involved in charitable initiatives for the past several weeks. They have embraced the giving spirit to help others near and far.

Photo courtesy of the North Bellmore School District

Saw Mill Road Elementary School continued its long-standing partnership with the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Leading the effort was North Bellmore resident and retired FDNY firefighter Tom O’Connor, whose grandchildren attend Saw Mill Road. The annual toy drive, organized by the Students Against Destructive Decisions club, will benefit children in Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian.

The partnership began in 2005, when toys were collected in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Since then, Saw Mill students and staff have donated toys to help children impacted by disasters across the country, including Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Sandy in New York, among others.

On Dec. 6, Mr. O’Connor and his fellow volunteers came to Saw Mill to pick up the toys, filling 10 large bags, which were then loaded into the back of a pickup truck for a long journey down south. Social worker Jo Ann Signorelli, co-adviser of SADD with school counselor Keara McNamara, said that this effort helps fulfill the district’s mission in contributing to the global community with creativity and compassion.

Ms. Signorelli also noted that by having the children meet with the volunteers who bring the toys to impacted children, it helps them better understand the value of their charitable acts.

“After everything that’s happened in Florida,” sixth grader Sophia Hoffman said, “this is going to help a lot of kids and bring a little more joy into their lives.”

About a mile away, the SADD club at Martin Avenue Elementary School is holding a holiday toy drive for the John Theissen Children’s Foundation, based in neighboring Wantagh. Toys will be distributed to sick and underprivileged children across Long Island, from infants to 17 years old.

Martin Avenue’s toy drive runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 15, with students encouraged to leave new, unwrapped toys in donation boxes in the lobby.

Park Avenue Elementary School hosted a successful Thanksgiving food drive, which ran from Nov. 14 to 18. In just one week, donations filled several boxes in the lobby, which were then donated to the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s Community Cupboard at the Brookside School.

In order to ensure a variety of donations and to fulfill the most urgent needs, students from every grade level were asked to bring in certain items. Kindergartners contributed cereal, second graders donated paper goods and fifth graders were tasked with canned goods. Donations of pet food were also welcome.