New 5-Towns group hopes to build unity through service

After years of division between public- and private-school parents in District 15, an effort is under way to unite the school community and, at the same time, help those in need.

The Lawrence public and private schools, local clergy and civic organizations recently created a partnership called Five Towns – One Community. The group, an affiliate of the Five Towns Community Chest and a registered 501(c) charitable organization, has since November conducted food and clothing drives for impoverished families whose children attend Lawrence Public Schools.

In the hope of bringing the District 15's diverse elements together for a common cause, Five Towns – One Community is planning a fundraiser on March 7 at Lawrence High School that will feature a dinner and a performance of the classic drama "Twelve Angry Men." The play will star students from Lawrence High School, the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School in Cedarhurst and the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach Davis-Renov-Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys in Woodmere.

"It is very gratifying knowing that as a community we can all come together to help one another," said Bracha Katz, a community liaison for the Lawrence Public Schools, who helped organize Five Towns – One Community.

Sixty-five percent of the students enrolled in District 15 are members of families that are at or below the federal poverty level, according to officials from the new partnership, which has the support of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and her Community Affairs Division. District 15 social workers help identify students in families that might be in need of assistance, and Five Towns – One Community members devise ways for them to receive donated items.

The March 7 fundraiser will honor Inwood Community Group President Gregory Nunn with a citizenship award, and recognize students from Lawrence, DRS and HAFTR who have helped with food and clothing drives. A buffet dinner is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the play will begin at 6, followed by a dessert reception at 7: 30.

Nunn, who helped create Five Towns – One Community, is hoping the group can foster harmony among the Lawrence Public Schools' diverse constituencies. "This group is bringing us together," Nunn said at a meeting on Monday at Lawrence High School, where group members discussed the fund-raiser. "People like to do good things, and this is a good organization."

The idea of a partnership came up at a school board meeting just before Thanksgiving, when school district trustees spoke with principals and social workers in the district about the many local families in need of assistance. After the meeting, the seven school board members contacted local synagogues and yeshivas, while other community leaders reached out to civic organizations and churches to determine how everyone could chip in and help.

Five Towns – One Community's first activity was the distribution of $2,000 worth of Stop & Shop gift cards to 80 families identified by social workers, using funds left over from a February 2009 campaign that raised money for the victims of a deadly North Lawrence fire. Clothing and food drives soon followed at local yeshivas, with churches helping to collect and donate the items.

Students from Lawrence High School, HALB-DRS and HAFTR have contributed to the cause by sorting clothing and collecting canned goods. HALB-DRS students gathered 3,000 items of clothing, including 500 new winter coats and sweatshirts donated by the Peyser family of Lawrence, who own the Weatherproof clothing company. Some of the organizations helping the efforts include Our Lady of Good Council R.C Church, St. John’s Baptist Church, The First Baptist Church of Lawrence and the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Five Towns.

"Five Towns – One Community grew out of the efforts of helping those families in need," said Gary Schall, an organizer of the group who is also the director of the Lawrence Public Schools music program. "It is an extraordinary partnership of people."