A cleanup crew walks past piles of debris and a beached motorboat in the middle of a road in the oceanside community of Port Channel, New York, Thursday, November 1, 2012. (Photo: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
One Small Town Helps Another
Middletown, Maryland, sends aid to Oceanside, New York
Oceanside, New York, is a community of about 32,000 people located in the Southern part of Nassau County on Long Island. Its rich history dates back to 1674, when the English government established a township known as South Bay. The town quickly flourished and remained prosperous for hundreds of years.
But everything changed when Hurricane Sandy hit the area. The superstorm destroyed costal New Jersey and Staten Island, New York, and left a large part of Long Island underwater.
Oceanside was hit particularly hard. Students at one Oceanside elementary school have lost virtually everything. A large number of students attending elementary school PS/MS 42 live in nearby apartment buildings that were overrun by flooding. Many families were seen fleeing their apartments during the storm with only the clothes on their backs.
Park Ranger Irene Rosen from Oceanside tells the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps that the school itself is in a "particularly poor part of town, and it is in ruins."
"A lot of people are still living in shelters and hotels," says Mary Parker, a teacher at Elementary School PS/MS 42. "Many kids aren't in school because they've been relocated to different parts of the city."
This is why schools in other states have jumped in to help their less fortunate peers.
The Student Government Association of Middletown Middle School in Maryland asked students to rally around kids from elementary school PS/MS 42.
Assistant Principal Patricia Cowan appealed to Middletown Valley families to donate "everything from underwear to outerwear, and from personal hygiene items to school supplies."
Joe Glover is one of the many students from MMS who answered the call.
"They lost everything they had," he says, "I thought it would be nice to give them some of their stuff back. I'd be devastated if I lost my entire life. These people lost stuff that I have plenty of, so I wanted to give it back to them."
Donated items will be delivered to Oceanside the week of December 11. For now, relief workers and Sandy victims are hoping the aid continues to pour in.
"Help if you can, please," Cowan urges. "Even tough New Yorkers could use some help from Middletown Valley."
You can find share your Hurricane Sandy experiences and find more coverage of the storm and its aftermath on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Blog.
HURRICANE SANDY RECOVERY SPECIAL REPORT
Find out how kids across the country are helping the Hurricane Sandy relief effort — and catch up with the Kid Reporters' on-the-ground reporting during the storm — in the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Special Report.
NEWS FOR KIDS, BY KIDS
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