Students revel in performing community service

Students at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) have had numerous opportunities to organize and participate in various programs and projects as a way of expressing their own personal gratitude during this Thanksgiving season.

Despite their overwhelming schedules and demanding course-loads, HAFTR students have given generously of their time and effort and have performed acts of kindness.

At HAFTR, students have consistently demonstrated their willingness to give back to the community in which they live. They were recently granted the opportunity to do so during the annual blood drive that took place at the high school on Nov. 21. Additionally, HAFTR’s school-wide food drive has thus far been a great success, as students continue to bring in canned-foods and other pantry goods to be donated to the Food Pantry of the JCC of The Greater Five Towns.

Last week, HAFTR High School was visited by Jacy Good and Steve Johnson, who presented their program, “Hang Up and Drive” to the junior and senior classes. Good shared her personal experience in which her parents’ car was hit by a truck whose driver was carelessly talking on his cell phone.

Good suffered the loss of her dear parents and was severely injured both physically and mentally. Her miraculous survival and recovery inspired Good and her fiancée, Johnson, to raise awareness about the dangers and potential consequences of driving while simultaneously using a cell phone.

Since the accident, Good and Johnson have spoken to hundreds of audiences across the nation and have shared the story that affected their lives so dramatically.

By their example, HAFTR students discovered yet another way to give back. Perhaps more importantly, the program left students thankful for their safety and urged them to be careful and conscientious drivers.

HAFTR’s student body is always eager to find new ways of performing charitable acts on a daily basis throughout the year. Upon their return to HAFTR in after their Thanksgiving break, students are already in the midst of organizing additional projects and programs for the betterment of their community.