The Lakeland school community is pitching in to help hurricane-damaged areas:
A group of Lakeland Central School District teachers and staff are planning their second trip to help Hurricane Sandy victims, this time to the Broad Channel area.
Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School teachers Camille Parisi, Michelle Reuter and Mary Eickler are planning the latest trip along with their colleagues at the school.
Parisi and Reuter were among a group of Lakeland staff members and their families who recently traveled to the Rockaways in Queens to help Hurricane Sandy victims with relief efforts. After seeing the devastation on the news, Parisi and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School teacher Zenobia Kellock organized for the group to travel to the hard hit area. The location was found through the help of United for the Troops’ Founders, Jim and Pat Rathschmidt. Members of the group also provided supplies and assistance. Approximately 17 people went down to Beach 113 and Rockaway Beach Boulevard.
For Ms. Parisi, the trips are personal having grown up near and vacationed on the beaches of East Rockaway. “Now, as an adult, I am heartbroken at the devastation,” said Parisi.
Generous donations from the Freight House Cafe in Mahopac, and Bob-B-Que’s in Shrub Oak, and JV Bagels helped the group serve more than 500 hamburgers, 600 hot-dogs, and 300 bagels. They were also able give out donations and help with the clean up of some of the homes, reported Kellock. “I have to say that the group that went down was amazing. We cooked and served, gave out donations and got down and dirty helping with the clean-up of some homes. It really was wonderful and I am so happy to have been a part of it. If you can believe it, I would say we served food to almost 1,000 people,” added Kellock.
Others taking part in the first trip were Kellock’s husband; Marybeth Guyett (Thomas Jefferson nurse); Nancy Fletcher (Thomas Jefferson physical education teacher) and her daughter and daughter’s friend; Kathy Mills-Hastings (Van Cortlandtville Elementary School teacher) and her two sons; Pat O’Dell (district office staff member) and her husband and their two daughters and their husband and boyfriend; Parisi and her husband; and Michelle Reuter (middle school teacher), Susan Wolf (Lakeland) and a few other community members.
Lakeland staffers on a previous trip to help with hurricane recovery.
