ntownshortpump.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/HenricoReliefSydneyHague-199×300.jpg” alt=”" width=”199″ height=”300″ /> Glen Allen High School student Sydney Hague, one of the student organizers of the Henrico Community Cares Relief Effort.
Local Henrico students bring community together for Super Storm Sandy relief efforts
November 29, 2012 - 11:44 am · By
Kids are making a difference in Henrico County and up the east coast to New York. Two students led the organization of a supply drive for victims of Super Storm Sandy, Nov. 16-18, that resulted in filling a 53-feet truck with much needed supplies. The supplies were delivered to some very grateful Brooklyn, New York, residents on Monday, Nov. 19.
Parris and Sydney Hague of Moody Middle School and Glen Allen High School respectively put their heads together to try to find a way to help people in Brooklyn who were affected by Super Storm Sandy. They both started working with their schools to ask for donations of supplies and funds for the cause. As word got out in their own schools and in their neighborhood, the rest of the community started to lend a helping hand as well. Students, teachers and administrators at Deep Run High School, Holman Middle School and Rivers Edge Elementary were also instrumental in the success of this drive.
Caroline DiFrango (in the blue on the left) and Sydney Helms help fill and organize a truck of relief supplies destined for Brooklyn, NY
Others in the community soon joined forces with the students to make this relief effort as successful as possible. Costco on Springfield Road let the students park at their store to collect the goods. Abilene Motor Express donated a truck for the community to load up with supplies. Then, they drove the truck to New York to one of the hardest hit areas of Brooklyn where people needed help.
The Henrico community came out in force, collecting items such as bedding, non-perishable food, diapers, toiletries, coats (new and gently used), gloves, hats, scarves, bottled drinks, baby food and formula, and cleaning supplies.
Terri Hague, one of the women helping coordinate the event, said, “The effort was a huge success. I don’t have any official stats, but I can tell you that we had over 20 volunteers both from the schools and the community, and we basically filled up the truck, as we had hoped. The truck was 53 feet long, and there was not much room left in it when we were done.”
The truck driver drove all night Sunday and delivered the goods in Brooklyn Monday morning. Hague adds, “The folks in New York were very, very appreciative and grateful, as you can see from many of the comments on our ‘Henrico Community Cares Relief Effort’ Facebook page.”
