Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee led a group of student-athletes who volunteered at the Polar Plunge in Fishkill, N.Y. on February 25. The event helped raise money for the Special Olympics.

Mount Saint Mary had 36 student-athletes volunteer at the Sharpe Reservation in Fishkill, N.Y., helping out with registration, parking, directing participants and selling merchandise. All proceeds from the event, Freezin’ For A Reason, benefitted Special Olympics New York.

Photo caption: As a kickoff to the Winter Olympics, students at Tooker Avenue Elementary School in the West Babylon School District wore red, white and blue to show their support for Team USA. To celebrate the “souper” start to the Olympics, the school held a soup drive and donated seven boxes of soup to the local food pantry. 

 

Photo courtesy of West Babylon School District

Students in grades K-2 at Bellmore’s Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center grasped the handles of colorful jump ropes during physical education classes throughout February. In attempting to break their own personal records for successful jump-roping, they also raised more than $16,044 for the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart Campaign.

Principal Patricia Castine said she is extremely proud of the students, who displayed great leadership skills during the campaign. The students raised $4,000 more than last year, she noted.

Jump Rope for Heart is a national education and fundraising event sponsored by the American Heart Association and Society of Health and Physical Educators, whose goal is to not only empower students to improve their own health, but to help other children with heart health issues.  

 

Photo caption: From left, Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center physical education teachers Elia Deblasio and Ari Bisk are pictured with students who participated in the school’s Jump Rope for Heart campaign this February.

 

Photo courtesy of the Bellmore School District

The Babylon Junior-Senior High School recently hosted their second annual “Souper Bowl of Caring” fundraiser event, inviting 150 student volunteers, district staff members and community residents to come together and engage in a fun and friendly baking and cooking competition.

Due to the combined efforts of all attendees, $3,300 was raised which will directly benefit the Children’s Cancer Research Fund and Save the Great South Bay organizations. In addition, three boxes were filled to the brim with nonperishable food items to be sent to the Rock Can Roll hunger relief organization.

The district congratulates all the individuals and teams who participated and were recognized for their delicious contributions to both the Cake-off and Cook-off competitions, including tasty bowls of chili, trays of cupcakes and beautifully decorated cakes.  

The district would also like to thank the faculty and staff members who attended and helped out behind the scenes in order to make this year’s Souper Bowl of Caring such a success.

Photo caption: Babylon School District’s Souper Bowl of Caring fundraiser event raised $3,300 to benefit the Children’s Cancer Research Fund and Save the Great South Bay organizations.

 

Photo courtesy of the Babylon School District

As part of their annual service learning project, approximately 85 sixth-graders, along with staff from Levy Lakeside School in Merrick, dedicated time during their day to make and pack more than 3,000 cold cut sandwiches to feed families in need. The sandwiches were donated to the River Fund, a mobile food pantry that fights hunger in dozens of New York City neighborhoods.

For a little more than an hour, the Lakeside cafeteria resembled an assembly line of focused philanthropic scholars and staff hustling to get these sandwiches ready for distribution. But it wasn’t just the sweat and manpower that they provided: students and staff themselves donated turkey, cheese, ham and bread cold cuts and bread for the sandwiches. The Lakeside PTA chipped in with 100 pounds of cold cuts as well. Local businesses also stepped up, as Stop and Shop donated 210 loaves of bread, 250 pounds of cold cuts, zip lock baggies, 24 cases of chips and a pallet of water. Hey! Cookie donated 46 dozen large chocolate chip cookies, while Spiga Bakery, Suburbia Prime Meats, Town Bagel and Wonder Bread also made significant contributions to the cause.

According to sixth-grade teacher and project coordinator Susan Molloy, the idea was born seven years ago from a single Lakeside student who wanted to do something special for the homeless on her birthday. Other Lakeside students heard about the effort and were inspired to help out.

“Given the size of the school’s student body, we decided to create our own ‘Sandwichathon’ project,” said Molloy. “Each year the effort grows and donations increase, giving more of our students the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.”

 

Photo Caption: With contributions from local businesses and families, 85 Levy Lakeside sixth-graders made more than 3,000 sandwiches for families in need.

 

Photo courtesy of the Merrick School District