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CRANBURY: Students raise $232 for Sandy relief

By Kaitlyn Kanzler, Special Writer
   CRANBURY — Many people have donated and raised money for Superstorm Sandy relief and the students of the Cranbury School are no exception.
   According to Chief School Administrator Susan Genco, several students took time out of their holiday break to go caroling around the town in an effort to raise money for Sandy relief.
   ”When you could have done anything else, you chose to do this,” Dr. Genco said to the students at the Board of Education meeting on Jan. 22. “This was a random act of kindness.”
   According to Dr. Genco, the students managed to raise more than $300 for Donorschoose.org, an online charity that connects people to classrooms in need throughout the country.
   According to the Donorschoose.org website, teachers in public schools post classroom project requests on the website and people can browse the requests, choose the amount to give, and when the funding goal is met, the materials are delivered to the school.
   According to Dr. Genco, in addition to raising $232.50 through caroling, the Molto Bene Restaurant located on Main Street donated another $100.
   ”The best things can happen when no one’s watching,” Dr. Genco said.
   Amir Moon, the homeroom representative for the Student Council, presented the board with a check for $232.50, signed by all 20 students who participated in the caroling.
   ”I’m so proud of these students,” Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Jeannine Lanphear said. “You really give your heart when you give the gift of music.”
   The board presented the students with certificates commemorating their participation in the caroling, congratulating them on a job well done.
   Dr. Genco also thanked the children’s’ parents, who took time out of their busy days to supervise the students as they made their caroling rounds.
   ”Without your support, this would have been possible,” Dr. Genco said. “Thanks for supporting your kids’ dreams, big or small.”
   This is not the first fundraising effort for Sandy by the students of Cranbury School.
   On Dec. 19, more than 100 students from the Cranbury School and Princeton High School participated in “Sing for Hope,” a concert given by Cranbury’s Advanced Choir and Instrumental Department along with Princeton High School’s choral group for people in Union Beach.
   Both schools additionally donated instruments to replace the ones that were destroyed by the storm.
   Cranbury’s student council also put together goodie bags for “holiday shopping” after raising more than $250 though classroom donation according to Dr. Genco previously.
   In addition to these relief efforts, the Cranbury Education Foundation held a community-wide winter dance in the new gym that was attended by more than 250 parents, students, staff, and community members on Jan. 11.
   The money raised at the dance will be donated to the New Jersey Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.