Photo caption: To give back to the community, members of the Hampton Bays Elementary School K-Kids community service club recently hosted a coat drive. All coats will be donated to local families in need. The coat drive is just one of the many fundraisers the K-Kids are hosting this school year. In November, they collected food to donate to local families for Thanksgiving. From left, are K-Kids Liam Fitzgerald, Sean Donahue and John Hayes. 

Photo courtesy of the Hampton Bays School District

Several fall sports teams at Riverhead High School helped make a dream come true for a 12-year-old diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia by raising nearly $4,000 through a Make-A-Wish raffle. 

The money raised by the Riverhead cheer, field hockey and tennis booster clubs was donated to the Riverhead resident, allowing him to fulfill his dream of going on a shopping spree at Best Buy to purchase new electronics and gadgets. 

The generosity of students from Berner Middle School in the Massapequa School District will be felt throughout the community during the holiday season. Donations from a recent food drive were delivered to the St. Rose of Lima Church food pantry to benefit families in Massapequa.

On Nov. 27, an SUV was filled with all of the food collected in the preceding weeks and brought to the food pantry. That afternoon, 21 students arrived to sort the donations, which included canned vegetables, cereal, cake and brownie mix, condiments, mashed potatoes, rice, stuffing, gravy, snacks and more. 

Members of the student council as well as the sixth, seventh and eighth grade class officers met with Marianne Meyer from the St. Rose of Lima parish outreach center, who told them about the food pantry, who it serves, why people may be in need and the importance of keeping a stock of many different types of food to ensure that everyone’s nutritional needs are met. She also said the pantry isn’t limited to just food, as it also keeps a supply of toiletries and hygiene items. 

Student Council advisers Kristen Meoli and Denise Robertson said that having the students go to the food pantry to sort items and learn about its mission gives them greater perspective on the importance of charity.

“It’s nice to know that you’re helping out a lot of people,” said eighth grader Josh Holden, the student council president. “To help out people who are less fortunate, it gives you a good feeling. It’s nice to be a part of it beyond just donating food.”

Photo captions:

1: Berner Middle School student council members and class officers visited the St. Rose of Lima Church food pantry on Nov. 27 to sort items donated for the school’s annual food drive.

2: Students made sure all of the food donations were put in the right spot.

Photos courtesy of the Massapequa School District

Members of the Rocky Point School District varsity, junior varsity and middle school baseball teams recently volunteered at Maureen’s Haven, a shelter for people in need in Riverhead.

This annual event had student-athletes working together, along with coaches Anthony Anzalone and Eric Strovink, setting up beds, stocking the pantry, setting dinner tables, and packing lunches and snacks. When they finished setting up the location, they presented the director with 50 fast-food restaurant gift cards to give out to the people at the facility.  

Additionally, the students collected and donated food items, packaged snacks, rain ponchos, gloves, winter hats, toothbrushes, lip balm and so much more so each person at the shelter can benefit from the kindness for weeks to come. 

The Rocky Point School District thank the students who demonstrated their hard work and compassion with this heartwarming gesture.

Photo caption: Rocky Point School District baseball teams at Maureen’s Haven in Riverhead.

Photo courtesy of the Rocky Point School District

Members of John H. Glenn High School’s Italian and community service clubs were eager to lend a helping hand this holiday season. On Nov. 25, students’ desks were loaded not with textbooks, but rather with boxes of stuffing mix and canned goods.

The groups spent hours together, packaging food that was donated to the high school for its annual Thanksgiving food drive. In total, the students completed 10 baskets and donated two turkeys, which were donated to the school by the Greenlawn Fire Department with the help of the elementary school’s Special Education Parent-Teacher Association.

The baskets and turkeys were then donated to the Long Island Cares Huntington Station Pantry and the Ronald McDonald House.

Photo captions: John H. Glenn High School students made and donated 10 thanksgiving baskets and two turkeys to the Long Island Cares Huntington Station Pantry and the Ronald McDonald House. 

Photos courtesy of Elwood Union Free School District