North Bellmore sends supplies to Nicaragua

In keeping with the North Bellmore School District’s mission of “contributing to the global community,” the Dinkelmeyer Elementary School Students Against Destructive Decisions Club recently sponsored a month-long supply drive to benefit people in need in Central America.

The Dinkelmeyer community, as well as students in Spanish classes across North Bellmore, collected toiletries, toys and school supplies for people in need in Nicaragua from Jan. 8 through the first week of February. Principal Faith Skelos explained that, with the help of one teacher’s daughter, hundreds of pounds of supplies were sent from North Bellmore to Nicaragua, the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, over the past three years.

Maria Regan is a fifth-grade teacher at Dinkelmeyer and advises the SADD Club with Lorraine Chandler and Jo Ann Signorelli. For the past three years, her daughter, Emma Grace, has joined a team of young people on charitable trips to impoverished areas of Nicaragua. She and her peers will soon be returning to the country, handing out the items that North Bellmore students collected.

The trio of SADD Club teachers, Spanish teacher Shagufta Jafri and Skelos said they were proud of the students who participated, as they showed that they understand what it means to think globally and help others. They added that the donated items would make a big difference in the lives of others.