WESTON, FLA. (WSVN) - - South Florida elementary and middle school students are working hard to help some of the people hit hardest by Hurricane Matthew.
Students at Sagemont School in conjunction with the Feed the Need organization prepared 10,000 bags of food that will be sent to Haiti. One bag is said to feed six people after being put into boiling water for only 20 minutes.
Third, fourth, fifth and sixth-grade students spent almost an hour packing the bags of food in Sagemont’s gymnasium.
One student, third-grader Sophia Perez, said all she wants to do is help. “We’re getting food for Haiti because the storm, Matthew, went to Haiti, so they don’t have food now,” she said. “They’re really poor, so we want to help them and give them food.”
Hundreds of lives were lost when Matthew struck Haiti and thousands of others were affected.
A Sagemont student, who has ties to the island nation, said this work is important for him. “They don’t have any food for school or homes,” said fourth-grader Bradley Napoleon.
Fifth-grader Sean Jean-Marie said this hit home for him, as he has family in Haiti. “Well, I felt really bad, and I wanted to help, too,” he said, “so when Feed the Need came, I wanted to do all the things they had to do in Feed the Need: putting the food in the bags, putting the food in the boxes. I wanted to do all that to help my home country.”
Principal Monica Vigna said this was a teaching moment outside of the classroom and will remind students how lucky they are. “Giving the children that hands-on approach to really serving the community, not only community, but world-wide.”
The students’ helping hand did not stop with Haiti. About 1,500 bags of food were also prepared to help those in Broward County.
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