Floyd Students Raise Over $2K For Sheriff's K-9s, Honoring HS Grad

SHIRLEY, NY — A group of Shirley school children recently raised over $2,000 for the Suffolk Sheriff's office's K-9 Unit, as a way of remembering William Floyd High School graduate P.J. Fusaro, who dreamed of working as a K-9 handler, but died suddenly in 2020, district officials said.

Members of the Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School Community Cares Club partnered with students from John S. Hobart Elementary School to raise the funds, said officials, adding that student advisor Kayla Schweers, as well as school principal Heather Murillo, and assistant principal Erica Peralta, delivered a $2,300 check to Sheriff Errol Toulon's office recently, officials said.

The money had been raised through the club’s “Coins for K-9s” collection drive held last spring in honor of Fusaro, who graduated in 2012 and was the son of Donna Fusaro, a teaching assistant at Woodhull, according to officials. Toulon Jr. and Dr. Dominic Marino of the Sheriff’s Foundation recognized the Community Cares Club with a certificate of appreciation, officials said.

The Community Cares Club serves local residents with various efforts, like the “Share the Warmth Drive” to collect mittens, scarves, and hats during the winter months, as well as food drives to benefit the local food pantry, and card-making drives to encourage healthcare workers at Long Island Community Hospital, according to officials.