Free food event at the Bayville Firehouse
The Locust Valley Central School District (LVCSD) administrators and staff braved the gas lines and the weather, and ignored their own hurricane related problems, to help the residents of Bayville, part of the district, who were hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy.
A barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, clam chowder and chicken soup provided hot food to residents who were cleaning out their flooded homes, sleeping in cold houses and waiting for normalcy to return.
Sunday, Nov. 4, they gathered at the Bayville Fire Department to serve up the hot food. Some students and residents also helped. Janowskis Hamburgers in Rockville Centre generously donated the food. The owner is a resident of the school district, said LVCSD’s Pam Kaplan,
Delivering Hot Food
Christine D’Elia, a teacher’s assistant at Locust Valley, was one of the volunteers handing out the hot food. She said, “The barbecue started at 11 a.m. and it was pretty crowded until 3 p.m. — when we started to pack up, as planned. We were serving food for a good four hours.
“Verizon workers came and we fed them; and we served warm meals to the police officers that day. Many students went walking down the number streets – the east end that was really hit hard — offering free hamburgers and hot dogs to them: warm food was welcome, while they were cleaning out their debris.”
There was also clothing and blankets being given out. “The event was organized through the Locust Valley Coordinated Parents Council (LVCPC) that originated the food and clothing drive. The response of people was amazing. At the barbecue, when people saw the clothing drop, they went home and brought back more things to donate. It was very heartwarming.
“It was just a spur of the moment thing and it was great to see what the community did as well,” she added.
Billy Minicozzi, Bayville firefighter and regular respondent to the Mystery Picture said he attended the barbecue. “It was very good, and I ate a little bit of everything,” he said.
Thanks to Susan Hammershmidt, Pam Kaplan, Christine D’Elia and Gregory Druhak, for their help in telling this story of neighbors helping neighbors.
