Mr. Smith expressed a big “thank all” to all who contributed to the Hurricane Sandy relief drive at Watertown High School.

He reports:  We were able to collect approximately 40 cases of bottled water, 50 blankets, 5 coats, close to 500 canned and non-perishable foods, a wide assortment of personal items that become too much to count from hand-warmers to first aid kits and toothbrushes and toothpaste, and about 20 board games.  There were even candles, batteries and sterno cooking heat sources that were donated….all in the matter of 3 days at WHS!

All of the collected goods went to an extremely grateful and needy population.  Some of the items barely made it off the truck before staff began distributing it to those in need.  As I watched some of our blankets go directly to a crowd of elderly people who had been cold, without heat and hot food for a number of days, if there was ever a question as to whether this was a worthwhile cause, it immediately went out of my head.  I was extremely proud to say that a truck and trailer full of much needed items had come from a school community in Massachusetts.  So on behalf of everyone who received our items in New Jersey (and New York, some of the items were going to be redistributed by the staff to areas with higher needs), thank you.  And on behalf of myself, thank you for supporting this cause.  I felt this was a small but important effort to make in the big picture of it all and you all validated that for me so thank you again.