Forest Road students step up for Haiti relief

Forest Road School students raised $779 for Haiti relief efforts. The money was presented last Friday afternoon to Nancy Duchatllier Esposito, a founder of Forgotten Children of Haiti.

The organization was established in 1993 to aid school children in Haiti, where Esposito was born. Now a resident of Jamaica Estates in Queens, Esposito is friends with Forest Road teacher Cathy Wood.

Esposito said the donation from the school will fill seven barrels of clothing to send to those in need in Haiti. She thanked the efforts of the Forest Road students. “It is amazing that they are miles away,” she said, “yet they understand the pain and the need of children in another country. This school is wonderful.”

Marc Macenat, a fifth-grader, has relatives in Haiti and said some did die in the earthquake. “But I’m pretty sure a lot of them are still alive,” he said. “I’m going to pray for them every night.”

In addition to donating money, Marc drew several posters that were put up around the school, encouraging his classmates to give what they could. “We’re doing this because we want to save the people in Haiti,” he said. “If there was an earthquake in America, Haiti might help America.”

Sydney Pean, a third-grader, said she has family in Haiti that was safe because they lived in a different part of the country from where the earthquake hit. Still, she wanted to help and hopes that the school’s donation can make a difference.

Second-grader Justin Cange said he lost a great-grandmother in the earthquake but much of his family survived. His aunt, uncle and three cousins lost their home and will soon be coming to stay with his family in Valley Stream.

Esposito said that it normally takes her organization months to collect the amount of money that Forest Road students gathered in just a few weeks. “When little kids do something like that,” she said, “it touches you.”