North Fork Kids Raise Funds To Save Orphaned Elephants

CUTCHOGUE, NY — North Fork elementary school children learned a lifelong lesson about giving recently.

Students in Tony Claudio’s fourth grade class at Cutchogue East Elementary School in the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, studying about African elephants living in Kenya, Africa, also learned about the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which was founded in 1977 and operates an orphan elephant rescue and wildlife rehabilitation program.

The children were so moved by the work being done to rescue the elephants that they started a fundraiser from November, 2021 through January, 2022 to raise funds to support the initiative.

The students created elephant-themed donation bins, placed them throughout their school, and raised $2,402.30, which was donated to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the district said.

The students were able to rescue and adopt four elephants.