Schools helping Seaford's hungry

Seaford students have been doing their part to help the hungry in the community.

The schools have been working together to host a Thanksgiving food drive, which will ensure that everyone has a hearty meal next week. The high school Student Council, under the direction of advisers Shari Raduazzo and Tania Cintorino, is spearheading the effort which also includes the middle school and Harbor Elementary School.

Raduazzo and Cintorino learn of families in Seaford that need assistance for the holiday, and the students then collect the food. “The families come to our attention,” Raduazzo said, noting that those who are helped remain anonymous except to a select few. “We are delivering to our own.”

At the elementary and middle schools, most of the donations are non-perishable items, such as canned food, pasta and soup, while at the high school students mostly donate money, which goes toward the purchase of turkeys for the families, and other items such as fresh produce and pies.

“We like to give the families as complete a Thanksgiving meal as we can,” Cintorino said.

Maggie Crean, president of the Student Council, said they do a lot to promote the food drive including putting fliers up around the school and speaking to students at the middle school. Student Council members also go around to local businesses and ask for donations.

She said there is no goal for the amount of food they look to collect, just “as much as we can get. There’s always going to be people in need of it.”

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Student Council members sort and package the food. Each family gets three to six baskets, depending on how much food is received and how big the family is. Leftover items are donated to the food pantry at St. William the Abbot Church.

The middle school Student Council has also been actively soliciting food. There are donation boxes around the school, and there is a competition among the classes to collect the most food.

“Everyone should have nice food for Thanksgiving,” said Student Council President Hailey Galison, an eighth-grader. In addition to promoting the food drive to her classmates, she has contributed several canned items.

Vice President Liam McDonald said it is important for students to know that there are hungry people right in Seaford. “It’s right around in our neighborhood,” he said. “Poverty isn’t something that’s foreign to the U.S.”

Toy drive takes a hit

After the Thanksgiving food drive ends, the high school Student Council turns its attention to the holiday toy drive. Due to a recent flood in the basement at the school, all toys that were left over from previous years were destroyed, as well as its supply of wrapping paper.

“It’s gone,” Raduazzo said. “We’re starting literally with nothing this year.”

Student Council Treasurer Elyssa DiConstanzo said that toys will be brought to local group homes, including the Headstart program in Westbury. Other toys are donated to the Wantagh-based John Theissen Children’s Foundation.

Raduazzo said that Seaford’s toy drive helps approximately 400 children each year. She explained that they like to supply each child with a toy, a stuffed animal, and “what we call a trinket,” such as a puzzle or coloring book.

The toy drive starts on Dec. 4. Student Council members will be delivering fliers to homes throughout Seaford asking for donations. Items then can be left outside and picked up by the students the following week.