Hampton Bays Book Drive Aids Louisiana students

Photo courtesy of the Hampton Bays School District

Hampton Bays Middle School eighth-grader Ava Bianchi has initiated an ongoing, district wide book drive for students at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in Kenner, LA, which suffered the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

The project originally started after Katy Clayton, a teacher at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School, reached out to her former teacher, Katy Graves, superintendent of the Sag Harbor School District.

Although Theodore Roosevelt Middle School was rebuilt, all of its books were damaged by the hurricane.

Bianchi heard about Sag Harbor’s efforts through her mother, a teacher at Sag Harbor’s Pierson High School, and decided she wanted to do her part and bring the community service effort to her classmates.

Since Nov. 19, she has been collecting books from fellow students and staff members, which she will present to Sag Harbor Middle School sixth-graders in Christine Farrell’s class, who are overseeing the drive.

After spreading the word about her drive through flyers, Bianchi collected more than 600 books in a drop-box that she decorated and placed in the middle school.

“I like doing good deeds and I like to read, so the thought of children not being able to read books from their school library made me want to help,” she said. “I didn’t think we’d collect so many books.”