Syosset Students Kick Off Sports Drive for Charity

It seems as though the season of giving has only just begun, yet Syosset students are already lending a hand in the community.

Students from have helped to organize and promote a sporting goods drive for the Mary Brennan Inn taking place from Dec. 5th until Dec. 9th. The student body hopes to achieve an impressive goal in one week: to raise over 1,000 new sports toys for the less fortunate on Long Island.

The Mary Brennan Inn is a charity based on Long Island that has multiple soup kitchens to feed and provide shelter to the homeless.

While health classes have been visiting the soup kitchen for years and hosting regular toy drives with the organization, the sports items drive was implemented two years ago.

“A lot of times when we host toy drives we get things for babies. There aren’t enough items for the older kids,” explained Mr. Richard Faber, a health teacher who assists in coordinating the drive.

Faber estimates that the sports toys will be delivered to the charity by December 20th, just in time for families to celebrate the holidays.

By collecting goods for older children and teenagers like themselves, Syosset students learn to appreciate what they have. This charity event teaches them the importance of helping others during a time of need.

Students from the Peers As Leaders (PAL) and Peers Reaching Out (PRO) classes have been acting as advocates for the event. Both of Syosset’s middle schools, HBT and South Woods, are also participating in the week-long charity mission.  

Last year, the goal was to receive 800 sports donations in the drive; students exceeded this expectation by compiling 810 items. Hopefully they will be even more successful this year in helping many families across Long Island to have a happy holiday season.