Clear Stream Avenue School fifth-grade teacher Barbara Clarke and her class ran a hurricane relief drive to benefit the residents of Grenada, an island in the Caribbean that was devasted by Hurricane Ivan in September.
Grenadian schools have been closed for the remainder of the year, more than 90 percent of homes were destroyed and countless jobs were lost. For the second time since disaster struck, Clear Stream students, their families and staff donated items, including non-preishable food, clothing, flashlights, batteries, medicines and first aid supplies. In all, the school community filled 66 boxes with much-needed supplies, which were shipped to Grenada free of charge by Almighty Services of Inwood through the efforts of St. George's University of Grenada.
Clarke's class took the lead in their school. Students made daily announcements, they created personalized cards for each of the 66 boxes of goods donated, they carried donations from the school-wide drop-off point to their classroom and packed the boxes. Also working with the class were Talene Issa and Frank Hynes, student teachers.
The cardboard boxes were donated by Precision Instruments of Valley Stream. Yvette Jones, co-president of the Clear Stream PTA, and her husband dropped off the first shipment of 34 boxes, and the second shipment was dropped off to Almighty Services by Vincent Libertini, a kindergarten teacher.
Anyone interested in making a donation, can mail items to Hindref/SGU Relief Fund for Grenada, SGU-Ivan, c/o Almighty Services, 600 Bayview Ave., Inwood, NY 11096. Call (516) 599-4805 ext. 303 for more information.
