Local Students Prep Hurricane Care Packages

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Instead of watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade last Thursday morning, 11-year-old Mae Woods of Yonkers traveled with her parents to the Breezy Point Fire Station in Brooklyn to hand deliver 55 care packages prepared for the children of that hard-hit area. 

Days before, Woods, along with her sixth-grade classmates and other students from Blue Rock School in West Nyack, had thoughtfully filled shoe boxes with toiletries, books, games, stuffed animals, mittens, hats, scarves and comforting messages of hope, and then decorated the boxes in hopes of raising the spirits of the children of the Brooklyn neighborhood devastated not only by Hurricane Sandy but also by the massive fire that erupted as a result of the storm and incinerated 111 homes.

“It felt really good to know that we were helping someone in need, and maybe brightening their day a little,” said 10-year-old Gabrielle Belfessa of Nyack who also added a few choice pieces of her own Halloween candy to her box.

The intended recipients reportedly just returned to school in Breezy Point this past Monday, Nov. 26, and are still going to the local fire station with their families for meals, according to Woods' mother Ann Woods, who initiated the relief effort. “I think it was good for Mae to see what these poor people are having to endure. It was a very heartwarming experience to deliver the care packages. I just wish the other students at Blue Rock School who poured their hearts into the preparation of the boxes had been able to be there as well.”

Blue Rock School is a progressive, independent day school serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and is located on a beautiful, four-acre, wooded campus in West Nyack.  The school was founded in 1987 with the purpose of providing a rich educational experience based on a child-centered and hands-on approach that nurtures children’s innate love of learning, enables them to follow their own natural curiosity, develop as independent thinkers and grow in a dynamic learning community. 

At Blue Rock School, class sizes are small and students engage in a challenging academic curriculum which is balanced and fully integrated with the arts, nature and play.  Blue Rock School also offers a five-week Summer Play Camp which is open to the community.  For more information call 845-627-0234 or visit us at www.bluerockschool.org. Blue Rock School – Where Learning Comes Alive!