By Scott Brinton
When the white dust cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan finally settled on Sept. 11, 2001, the twin towers lay in a heap before McElwain. Inside were seven members of his firehouse, Engine 219/Ladder 105 in Brooklyn. Their bodies were never recovered. Only a bone of one firefighter was found.
McElwain, the father of three, retired from the New York City Fire Department in 2002, after 21 years on the job. He realizes how lucky he is to be alive. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, McElwain decided that he had to help in every way he could. "There was nothing left when that dust hit" on Sept. 11, McElwain says. "Now it's payback time."
The Merokean called firehouses in Biloxi, Miss., asking what folks down there needed. Fire officials listed food, water, clothes, diapers, baby wipes and chainsaws to cut up the countless fallen trees.
McElwain immediately went to work, organizing a supply drive. At Calhoun High School, which his sons, Keith Jr. and Peter, attend, more than three dozen students started collecting goods from their families and friends. Principal David Seinfeld sent urgent e-mails to parents, asking them to send whatever they could. McElwain also distributed fliers at Birch, Chatterton and Levy-Lakeside elementary schools. (His daughter, Jennifer, goes to Chatterton.) Each of the schools responded with mounds of supplies. 1-800-Flowers also gave a truck full of goods that it had collected.
Seinfeld provided the students with three garage bays at the back of Calhoun to store the collected supplies. The garages quickly filled up. Students spent much of last Friday sorting and packing supplies into cardboard boxes. They set up stations on folding tables -- one for clothes, another for food, and so on. Calhoun's head custodian, Lenny Heide of Merrick, made sure the effort stayed organized and helped students haul heavy boxes with a hand truck.
"The kids took a lot of pride in this," McElwain says. "The kids took an inventory. No one told them what to do."
Seinfeld says that Friday "was the best day of my professional career, seeing kids come in and out all day."
At 5 a.m. on Monday, McElwain took off in a big yellow rental truck, obtained through the city fire department's Disaster Assistance Relief Team, headed to Biloxi. The truck was packed to the brim with the supplies the students had collected, including eight chainsaws. Inside many of the boxes were handwritten notes saying, "We love you. From New York." Fifty members of Calhoun's World of Difference club also penned more extensive letters of support, with self-addressed, stamped envelopes in case people want to reply.
In Biloxi, McElwain plans to stop at three firehouses to drop off supplies. The collection drive will continue through December, he says. To help, call him at (516) 238-8262.
Also at Calhoun, student government President Samantha Caravello and other students started a school-supply drive for youngsters at Hogg Middle School in Houston, which is enrolling refugee students.
Caravello, of Merrick, says students are gathering backpacks and filling them with pencils, pens and notebooks. R.S. Jones Restaurant, at 153 Merrick Ave. in Merrick, agreed to ship all the supplies to a warehouse run by a nonprofit, New York City-based volunteer youth organization called Do Something.
Carole Olkoski, co-owner of R.S. Jones with Chamber of Commerce Vice President Margaret Mueller, says she heard about Do Something's efforts to aid Katrina victims on the news, and right away she wanted to get involved. Olkoski adds that people can drop off school supplies and backpacks at her eatery any day but Monday, after 12 p.m. If you're delivering supplies before 5 p.m., use the back door. To reach R.S. Jones, call (516) 378-7177.
Caravello, who plans to study politics in college next year, interned at Do Something's tiny Manhattan office over the summer, and she knew immediately that the group would be involved in hurricane-relief efforts. Within days of the storm, she was on a conference call with 29 other members of Do Something's Youth Advisory Council, mapping out a strategy to help. They decided on the school-supply drive, which they called "We've Got Your Back."
At Calhoun, the student government, the National Honor Society and the Key Club are co-sponsoring the supply drive, which is in full swing. "We've been packing things all week during lunch periods," Caravello says. She adds that the school is planning a walk-a-thon to raise money for the relief effort.
The 17-year-old Caravello appeared on CNN last Thursday, getting the word out nationally about Do Something's projects. Now she wants to inform people locally. To check out Do Something's Web site, log onto www.dosomething.org. To reach Caravello, call (516) 608-4193.
Dr. Thomas Caramore, the outgoing superintendent of the Central High School District, said that all five Bellmore-Merrick schools -- Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools as well as Merrick Avenue and Grand Avenue middle schools -- are involved in raising money and collecting supplies for hurricane relief.
Caramore added that the district is considering adopting a ravaged school in the hurricane zone. But he notes, "Whether that's possible, we don't know yet."
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
