Students collect donations to help Sandy victims

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - What was once a boardwalk is gone and the famous Jet Star roller coaster is now in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In October, Superstorm Sandy destroyed homes and businesses in NY and NJ.

It has been more than 3 months, but 3,500 families in New York and New Jersey still live in motels because their houses haven't been repaired, and they're still without basic necessities.

So on Saturday Chicopee middle school students and teachers collected donations to help those families.

Jalene Tremble, 6th grader at Fairview Middle School in Chicopee told 22News she was happy to help “people who have lost all their homes, and they have nothing.”

Principal of the school Kris Theriault said “We have to day to day normal activity, whereas down in New Jersey, that impacted area, that's far from day to day normal routines.”

8th grader David Sittard said “Bunch of people's homes were destroyed. They don't have power, electricity, clean water, clean clothes and everything.”

It was a day of service, but also a valuable learning experience for many.

Susan Buchanan, math coach at Fairview, said “It makes them very aware, and as we are teaching in the classroom, now they can actually connect their learning to what's going on in the United States.”

Eight grade student Alyssa Vieau said “You think that volunteering is something that you would have to give up your day for, but it's actually something that you would think is fun because when you do it, you have a lot of fun with it, especially knowing that you're doing it for someone else.”

All the money collected Saturday will go to the American Red Cross, and Fairview teachers will deliver the supplies collected to a volunteer organization in New Jersey during their February break.