By Brian Zanzonico
Helping prepare and serve 14,000 meals a day for relief workers and residents in triple-digit heat after Hurricane Rita struck Orange, Texas, wasn't enough for H. Frank Carey High School teacher Bart Badalucco.
Badalucco could have returned to teaching technology, business and driver ed. in October content with his two-week stint supervising an American Red Cross Disaster Relief feeding operation, which helped stabilize an area still in shock from what Hurricane Katrina had left in its wake across neighboring states weeks earlier.
But that wasn't the case. Orange (pop. 19,000) was more than a city in shambles from a natural disaster. It was a community that had been hanging by a thread economically even before the storm, with an astonishing 20.5 percent of its families living below the poverty line. Hurricane Rita was just piling on.
Haunted by what he had seen, Badalucco met with the superintendent of the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District, the clergy of two Orange churches and a veterinarian caring for displaced pets before he left for New York to see what he could do to help them beyond his work with the Red Cross. Once back at Carey, Badalucco met with the presidents of the school's clubs to make his pitch for a fund-raising campaign, and received a club charter from the Sewanhaka Central High School District to establish "Orange-Aid," with the aim of raising some money and collecting school supplies.
The Carey and Franklin Square community took to Badalucco's cause in a way that far exceeded anything he could have imagined. In less than two months, Orange-Aid raised $15,000 and collected 2,000 pounds of school clothes and supplies, new and gently used toys, and two computers donated by SBS Computer in Franklin Square. Wal-Mart and Home Depot gift cards, clothes and toys were bought for the school district students and the congregation of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and were shipped to Orange and arrived just in time for Christmas, on Dec. 21. St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Orange will receive money to replace the tarp that has provided shelter since the storm with a new roof.
For his tireless work and remarkable results, the Herald proudly names Badalucco its 2005 Person of the Year.
"I'm awed by the overwhelming generosity from the school and community," said Badalucco, who plans to visit Orange during Carey's winter recess in February. "It's gratifying to have people share in your vision and see it come to fruition."
Badalucco initially rallied a dozen Carey clubs and classes to hold fund-raisers, and the effort soon spread throughout the neighborhood. The Franklin Square Lions Club hosted a Holiday Pancake Breakfast that collected $2,000. A resident anonymously donated $2,000. C.J. Wellington's Bar & Grill held two Sunday brunches that brought in $1,330. An anonymous member of the Franklin Square Chamber of Commerce donated an iPod, which was raffled off.
A member of the Carey Dads Club helped organize the trucking of supplies to Orange. Students of Carol Jockle, a Franklin Square resident who teaches at the New York Institute of Technology in Central Islip, held a baby shower for Orange's littlest citizens and donated 15 boxes of newborn baby apparel to Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Margaret DiTusa of Boy Scouts Troop 93 Mothers Club established drop-off points for new and slightly used toys, and collected six bags.
"It pulled people together," said Carey Principal Douglas Monaghan, who has known Badalucco for 25 years. "I've been here since 1982 and this has always been a charitable school community, especially after 9/11. But this time, [Bart] raised twice as much money and support than I've seen in the past. He did a tremendous job."
Bob Diehl, a member of the Franklin Square Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club, said Carey students were rewarded for their charity and swift organization in a way they will not soon forget. "It was a great learning experience, because what [Bart] brought to them was something they never would have experienced otherwise on this level at their age," Diehl said, noting that Badalucco was not compensated by the school district for his weeks in Orange.
With three major disasters occurring in the first five years of this century, many local people have made donations for 9/11, the south Asia tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, all while local taxes and the cost of living continue to rise. Badalucco was initially concerned about whether they would be able to give more or would be tapped out. The consensus among those associated with Orange-Aid is that it wasn't just the cause, but the man behind it that compelled so many people to give.
"Bart's leadership and personality made him regarded by a huge amount of people in this community," said John Costello, owner of C.J. Wellington's. "The result is an example of greatness from a tremendous guy."
