Hills Students Hold Holiday Drives To Help Local Families In Need

Students of all ages in the Half Hollow Hills Central School District have been busy fundraising and collecting toys and necessities to help local families in need have a happy holiday season. Different examples of service learning can be found at every building, but they all have the same goal of helping the less fortunate have a happy holiday season.

The High School East National Art Honor Society, Girls Learn International and Amnesty International clubs collected hundreds of toys for the Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center's toy drive that benefits local families. Members of the National Honor Society at East also held a very successful toy drive, collecting over 100 toys that were donated to the Sunshine Toy Drive. The Sunshine Toy Drive collects new un-wrapped toys and wrapping paper and provides a holiday toy shop experience for families in need.

The High School West Student Executive Council sponsored a giving tree this holiday season to collect toiletries, socks, underwear, pajamas, t-shirts, diapers and wipes to be donated to a local homeless shelter. Members of the Key Club from West worked with the Kiwanis Club of Huntington this holiday season to help some families in need purchase presents at Target, and then invited their children back to West Hollow where they hosted a pizza party which included a visit from Santa.

Students from Candlewood and West Hollow middle schools in the Rising Stars program came together for a holiday event that included a service-learning project where they created 275 "blessing bags" of household necessities that will be donated to local shelters. Students from Candlewood's World Language Club collected over 15 boxes filled with canned goods, pasta and cereal as part of their annual Holiday Food Drive that were donated to St. Matthew's Church in Dix Hills.

As part of their holiday food drive, the student council at Paumanok Elementary School went grocery shopping with their advisors and parent chaperones to purchase food for community members in need. Students and staff at Sunquam Elementary School held a Polar Pajama Day where they wore pajamas and collected over $300 to purchase winter clothing for families in need from their building. At Signal Hill Elementary School, students and their families donated over 270 presents to fulfill gift needs written on mittens for 90 children from the school community.

“Our students and staff always find important and meaningful ways to help those in need during the holiday season,” said Dr. Patrick Harrigan, superintendent of schools in Half Hollow Hills. “These service-learning projects not only benefit important causes, but also help our students learn the importance of volunteering and giving back to their community.”

An education-oriented community with high academic expectations, the Half Hollow Hills Central School District is located in a residential area of 50,000 people in the central part of Long Island, approximately 40 miles from New York City. Providing for the education of almost 8,000 students, the school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Half Hollow Hills High Schools are fully accredited by the New York State Department of Education. The district is committed to providing all students with opportunities to excel in academics, athletics and the arts.