Hampton Bays High School Students Take to the Beach for a Good Cause

Last weekend, Hampton Bays students celebrated Earth Day and gathered at Tiana Beach on Dune Road for a beach cleanup and grass-planting project in the dunes. Securing sponsors for their environmental efforts, as well as participating in a recycling project within the school, their efforts endowed them with a total of $1,600.

The reason for the fundraiser? To support music teacher Jennifer Halsey’s upcoming mission trip to Ghana, where she will deliver clean water to the children there.

The event was organized by seniors Laura Maila and Maddalena Wrobel, who plan on using the money to buy water filtration units for Halsey’s trip.

“We not only raised money for Ms. Halsey’s mission, but we also cleaned up a local beach and restored beach grass that was destroyed after Super Storm Sandy,” said Maila.

“We are thrilled that we were able to make this happen,” said Wrobel. “It is amazing to see the entire school work together.”

“Amazing” is certainly no embellishment—in one fell swoop Maila and Wrobel have benefited children in need abroad, their local environment and organized the entire school to achieve this goal in a fun and engaging way.

In this day and age, that is truly a miracle.