It’s been hard for me to watch the news reports of the devastation Hurricane Sandy caused for the New York Metropolitan Area. My hometown and the state I grew up in were ravaged by the storm. So many people lost property and memories when the water came rushing into their houses and apartments. Living three hours away from the location where the storm went ashore means there isn’t much I can physically do to help. While I’ve made donations to relevant charities, I feel like I need to do more. Hence, this is the second time I’m devoting some blog space to talk about ways to help storm victims. And this time, it won’t cost you a dime from your pocket. (Though by all means, go ahead and make a personal donation if you haven’t already! There are lots of worthy organizations from the Red Cross to the Pajama Program that need your help!)
I’ve been corresponding with a few people from DonorsChoose and they’re working to identify schools that need help. That being said, if you’re a public school teacher who would like to request supplies for your own classroom (to replenish what was lost in the storm), then click here to learn more about submitting a proposal on DonorsChoose.org. Furthermore, if you KNOW a public school teacher, who has or hasn’t submitted a proposal on DonorsChoose in the past, whose classroom suffered physical losses, then point him/her to the DonorsChoose Blog, which has a post entitled “Public school teachers, was your classroom impacted by Hurricane Sandy?” There are many things teachers can request in a proposal for their classroom. Examples include:
- School supplies, like paper, pencils, books, calculators, microscopes
- Snacks for your students, like granola bars, water, and juice
- Clothing for your students, like socks and t-shirts
- Safety equipment, like first aid kits and flashlights
- Classroom furniture, like portable heaters, desks, chairs, rugs, bookshelves
On Sunday I wrote a post asking teachers to consider making a donation to a school that was impacted by the storm. Afterwards, a couple of people commented that they’d like to do a service learning project where they’d work with their students to send supplies to schools that suffered losses in the storm. If this is something that interests you, then please read the comments from that post, which will give you some more insight on how to proceed. As you’ll see when you read the comments, my former fifth graders and I did a service learning project after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We sent school supplies to a school that was relocated to Houston. It was an incredible project, which was funded through the kindness of two private donors.
Feel free to leave a comment if you have other questions about how to get started helping your own impacted classroom, helping a friend’s classroom, or creating a service learning project by writing a proposal on DonorsChoose.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 
I appreciate your intention of serving schools which have been effected by the sandy hurricane. I and my children will donate the school surplus. This is very good idea which will help the children to inculcate helping nature in them.
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Stacey- Thank you for your wonderful blog and timely posts. My class is planning a “Have a Heart”(origami heart pins) sale to benefit the American Red Cross for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. It will be a warm up to our annual origami sale to benefit our local food pantry. I have found that service learning of this type is more than school learning-learning origami, learning to cooperate, learning to market, learning to give, learning to value a group accomplishment, learning the pleasure of doing for others,… the list is endless.
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@Mary: I love the “Have a Heart” sale you’re doing with your class. What a wonderful way to engage them and to have them do good!
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Stacey, Thank you so much for all you do. I am sharing this post with several people I know in CT schools who were not so impacted. It’s so important to help for SO many reasons. While I have made donations, I am embarrassed to say that I’ve been a little paralyzed insofar as doing MORE and you have mobilized me. Thank you. What an important post!
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@Melanie: Thanks for your comment. I think a service learning project can be so powerful for kids who weren’t impacted but want to help.
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