Elmont hosts annual food drive

Gotham Avenue School’s gymnasium was filled with turkeys and all the fixings for many Thanksgiving meals on Nov. 18, as the community came together to box up the food collected by students and faculty throughout the Elmont School District. They prepared it for distribution to deserving families in the community. 

District bus drivers, administrators, teachers and students, along with local Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, and a local soccer club organized the food to ensure that each box contained a full meal. Board of Education President Michael A. Jaime and trustee Michael Cantara joined Superintendent of Schools Al Harper as the large group worked.

“On behalf of the Elmont School District and the Dads’ Club, I want to thank all of you for your support. The number of people that show up to help gets bigger and bigger every year and I really appreciate it,” Mr. Harper said.

Among the helpers was Gotham Avenue third-grade teacher Kim McManus and her daughter’s soccer team, the Rockville Centre soccer U12 team Velocity. Also lending a hand were members of Elmont Memorial High School’s Key Club. In all, the food drive supplied 56 local families with meals this holiday season.  

Photo Captions:

1. Elmont School District Board of Education trustee Michael Cantara (right), joined teachers and students as they sorted food to be delivered.  
2. Clara H. Carlson School sixth-grader Tyler Bossous packed boxes for distribution.
3. Gotham Avenue School sixth-graders Stephan Bernardin and Aaidaen Maharaj (right) placed canned goods into the boxes for delivery.
4. Covert Avenue School fourth-grader Alexandra Saccone helped out at the Food Drive.
5. Elmont School District bus matron Jeff Saint Simon accepted a box full of food volunteer Katie Bennett prepared.
6. Clara H. Carlson students Sadie Sirjue and Sienna Hardy (right) carried boxes to be delivered.   
7. More than 100 volunteers helped sort and pack food for local families in need during the Elmont Dads’ Service Club Food Drive.  

Photos courtesy of the Elmont School District