Fifth-graders at the John J. Daly Elementary School in Port Washington got into the gift giving spirit this year with a new holiday gift donation program.
Students this month launched a Kindness Bags program, and collected hats, socks, gloves, toothpaste and other items, which they arranged in recyclable paper bags.
The students then donated the gift bags to the Interfaith Nutrition Network, which assists hungry and homeless people on Long Island.
“Once again a Port school community has shown its character, generosity and willingness to work together for the benefit of someone else,” Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Mooney said.
The Kriss Kringle effort was spearheaded by students creating fliers to spread word of the donation campaign to the school district and the community, the district said.
Students went from classroom to classroom soliciting donations for the program, and were “met with an outpouring of support from other Daly students and their families,” according to a news release.
“This is one of the most valuable lessons we can teach our children: they are never too young to give back to their community and help people,” Mooney said.
Working in an “assembly-line fashion,” students arranged the kindness bags and decorated them with holiday themed arrangements, the release said.
Students arranged 66 kindness bags and an additional 50 travel-size bags.
“Many thanks to our fifth-graders and everyone who contributed to help make this holiday season a little warmer and brighter for others who are less fortunate,” the Daly principal, Sheri Suzzan, said. “We are very proud of our students.’’
Students worked tirelessly to complete the bags by knocking on classroom doors, reaching out to members of the community and getting other students and parents involved, the release said.
Last week students and faculty at Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School also used the holiday season to give back, setting their third-annual toy drive for children at Winthrop University Hospital.
Twenty boxes of toys, collected from Nov. 28 to Dec. 19, which included board games, toy trucks, stuffed animals, dolls and action figures, were donated.
The toy drive was spearheaded by Filomena Dowling, a sixth-grade Spanish teacher, with the help of Adriana Galante, a family and consumer science teacher, Angela Costelli, a speech and language teacher, and state Sen. Jack Martins.
