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Photo caption: Jaimie Draskin’s fifth grade class at Pulaski Street Elementary School in Riverhead Central School District held a Super Bowl food drive during the week of Feb. 3. The students collected more than 400 nonperishable items from their peers that will be donated to the Family Service League.  

 

Photo courtesy of the Riverhead Central School District

 

 

A football-inspired charity drive resulted in the collection of hundreds of food items at Berner Middle School in the Massapequa School District. From Jan. 27-31, students and staff could donate non-perishable goods in the eighth annual “Souper Bowl” hosted by the Chief’s Challenge club.

Two boxes were placed in the auditorium lobby – one for the Kansas City Chiefs and the other for the San Francisco 49ers. Students could place their donations into the box of the team they felt would win the Super Bowl. Perhaps in an homage to the team that shares its nickname with Massapequa teams, the Chiefs box was filled higher. 

Chiefs Challenge advisers Marisa Boulukos and Caroline Glynn said that all donations would go to the YES Community Counseling Center’s food pantry. To raise awareness for the food drive, posters were hung throughout the school and the daily announcements include facts about hunger on Long Island. 

 

Photo captions:

 

1: Berner Middle School’s Chiefs Challenge club organized the “Souper Bowl” food drive with donations going to the YES Community Counseling Center food pantry.

2: Students donated canned goods and other non-perishable items. 

 

Photos courtesy of the Massapequa School District

 

The Mandalay Elementary School student council collected baby wipes for troops overseas during the month of January. Sponsored by the Blue Star Moms organization, baby wipes are one of the military’s most needed donations, especially for soldiers serving in desert locations. The baby wipes were accompanied by colorful Valentine’s Day cards hand-crafted by the students.  

Blue Star representative Andrea Nordquist visited the students and thanked them for their volunteer efforts and sentiments. She told them that the veterans hang the cards up to decorate their barracks.

“You have made them know that they are loved,” Ms. Nordquist said. “Your efforts will have a massive ripple when others learn that the troops need baby wipes.”

 

Photo caption: Blue Star representative Andrea Nordquist (left) and Mandalay Elementary School student council adviser Angela Buffalino-Morgan (right) are pictured with students who collected baby wipes and hand-crafted valentines for the troops overseas.

 

Photo courtesy of the Wantagh School District 

 

Photo caption: Hampton Bays Elementary School students twirled and bopped on Jan. 29 during an hourlong dance-a-thon sponsored by the school’s community service club, K-Kids. The event raised $800 for the Hampton Bays Kiwanis Club’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraiser. Students raised the funds through pledges they procured from family and friends prior to the event. 

 

Photo courtesy of the Hampton Bays Union Free School District

 

The Sewanhaka Central High School District varsity gymnastics team participated in the sixth annual Cartwheel for a Cure meet to raise funds for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which funds research for cystic fibrosis. The meet was organized by Cold Spring Harbor coach Teri Kindelmann, whose two daughters have the disease. 

More than 200 gymnasts from schools in Nassau County were a part of the meet. The girls from the various teams also competed in a cartwheel competition, completing as many cartwheels as possible in three minutes. 

The Sewanhaka gymnasts who participated were Catherine Bardales, Gwynne Smith, Brianna Evelyn, Brigid Hearne, Emily McKie, Alyssa Nittoli, Sydney Farrell, Tasnim Daouaou, Dora Alfieri, Gabby Bonneti, Mia Clark, Danielle Gutierrez, Star Henry, Taylor Kropf, Makayla Noel and Roslyn Petrovich.

 

Photo caption: The Sewanhaka Central High School District varsity gymnastics team participated in the sixth annual Cartwheel for a Cure meet. 

 

Photo courtesy of the Sewanhaka Central High School District