Seaford students spreading holiday cheer

The Seaford High School Student Council is collecting toys to give to needy children on Long Island. Pictured are members Kristina Bouretis, Alexa Meyer, Kelly Chamberlain, Amanda Cupo, Anna Gagliano, Cassidy Meyer, Conor Crean, Noah Crean and advisers Shari Raduazzo and Tania Cintorino. Not pictured are Maggie Crean, James Irwin, Ben Schwartz and Nicole Anastasiou.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Middle School Student Council members, from left, Eric Schneider, Liam McDonald, Hailey Galison and adviser Angela McGibney with some of the toys that have already been donated.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

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It will be a good Christmas for needy children across Long Island, thanks to the efforts of students in the Seaford School District.

The student councils at the high school and middle school are working together to collect toys, which will then be donated to a variety of organizations. Just days into the toy drive, the Student Council room in the high school was already filled with gifts.

“Often times, our presents are the only ones the kids will get,” said Shari Raduazzo, who advises the high school Student Council along with Tania Cintorino.

The toys will go to several group homes on Long Island that are part of the New York Foster Care system, as well as to Head Start pre-school programs in Hempstead and Westbury, which service underprivileged children. Any leftover toys will go to local churches in Seaford, which then donate those to needy families in the community.

Conor Crean, a senior and co-president of the Student Council, has been taking part in the toy drive for several years, and this year will play Santa during one of the group’s trips to hand out toys. Already, he wrapped presents encouraged his classmates to make donations.

Cassidy Meyer, the other co-president, said she and her fellow Student Council members are sometimes at school until 9 p.m. sorting and wrapping presents. She said she enjoys having the opportunity to help children in need. “There’s not a second of it that’s not worth it,” she said.

Raduazzo said that in hearing from Student Council members who have graduated from Seaford High School, they look back on the toy drive as one of their more memorable experiences.

Junior Amanda Cupo, a Student Council member, said she enjoys seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when the group goes to hand out toys. Treasurer Alexa Meyer, a senior, said it is a fun experience. “We’re lucky as a group to be able to do this together,” she said.

Letters also were sent out to members of the community seeking donations, with members of the Student Council and National Honor Society sent to pick them up. “It gives everyone in the community a sense of that same giving spirit,” Cintorino said. “They feel involved in something that we’re doing.”

Some of the bigger toys that are donated, such as dollhouses, will not go to an individual child, but will be given to a group home for its play room, so all children can enjoy it. The Student Council seeks only new or gently used toys.

Crean, who is also getting some help from his younger brother, Noah, and sister, Maggie, said it is important for people to learn at a young age about the importance of charity. “We have to take a second to realize we’re not the most important people out there,” he said. “There are people who need our help.”

“I think it’s important that kids our age get involved,” added Meyer. “You can’t buy this experience.”

Middle school donates

The Seaford Middle School Student Council collects toys in conjunction with the high school. Its members also go out with the high school students — in costume — to hand out donations.

The students ask their peers to donate packaged toys, either something they buy at the store or perhaps a toy they received and never opened.

Seventh-grader Liam McDonald, the Student Council treasurer, said no child should have to worry about not getting a toy for Christmas. “Everyone in this world deserves what everyone else gets,” he said.

Eric Schneider, the group’s president, said there are some people who don’t have the money to buy toys, so the Student Council’s efforts are important. “A little toy can make a big difference,” he said.

For each toy a student brings in, they earn one point in the school’s Class Cup competition. The homeroom class in each grade with the most number of points at the end of the year is treated to a picnic.

Angela McGibney, the Student Council adviser, said her officers have been working hard to get the word out about the toy drive to fellow classmates. In a given year, the middle school typically collects enough gifts to give to about 100 children.

“It’s just a nice thing to do,” Student Council Secretary Hailey Galison said, “to bring holiday joy.”