Merrimac Elementary Students Develop Toy and Coat Drives

From Merrimac Elementary School: Merrimac Elementary School has long been a pillar of volunteerism and service learning within the Sachem community.

This year Merrimac students collected new toys to donate to less fortunate families in the Sachem community, and conducted a winter coat drive.

For the toy drive, students used the toys to cast votes for their favorite thing to wear on New Year's Eve: pajamas, cozy socks and slippers or to dress up in their holiday best. Pajamas won by a landslide!

Merrimac students Hailey Grieve, Addison Romanowski, Michael Lubniewski, Hannah Lee, and Jaya Lauricella, donated their recess time to sort toys by category, and searched for specific children based on age and gender.

“The program was a huge success and allowed children to feel good about giving back to the community,” said Merrimac Principal Veronica DeCicco. “A special thank you to Ms. Jenna Prescott, our social worker, for her tireless efforts to making this service learning project a success for our community.”

Lee, a Student Lighthouse Team member, also had an idea to help others with a coat drive through the “One Warm Coat” organization, a national non-profit that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need.

Lee and the Student Lighthouse Team created two mitten trees in the lobby of the school. One was decorated with accessories such as hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves and the other held paper mittens to highlight the students and staff who had contributed to the coat drive.

The students created announcements, signs and flyers to inform all about the project. The outcome was true success as Merrimac collected 156 coats and many accessories to keep others warm. Hannah and the Student Lighthouse Team led by advisor, Barbara Montalbano, were proud of this accomplishment.

“Students synergized to make a difference and in the process learned a valuable lesson about putting first things first,” said Principal DeCicco. “The holidays are about the spirit of giving and making a contribution to help others in need. Our school community came together to make the holidays brighter and warmer for others.”

Photos courtesy of Merrimac Elementary, Image via Shutterstock