HOWELL — New Jersey Sen. Robert Singer recognized the Taunton School’s Boardwalk of Dreams project at a recent assembly by presenting students and two teachers with copies of a joint Senate and Assembly resolution honoring the school for its hard work.
The Boardwalk of Dreams was a collaborative project between the student council and special education teachers Cari Kennedy and Coreen Goralski to raise money for individuals whose lives were significantly impacted by superstorm Sandy.
Gift cards were collected and donated to people who had been impacted by the storm.
“[Superstorm Sandy was] a terrible, terrible tragedy for our state. But in every tragedy, there are good things — and the good things are what you did here,” Singer (R-Ocean) told students and staff members during the assembly.
The senator, whose legislative district includes Howell, presented each member of the student council, as well as Kennedy and Goralski, with a copy of the resolution.
According to Kennedy, the Boardwalk of Dreams project was “a lesson in empathy versus sympathy. Gifts of sympathy would be clothing and food, but gifts of empathy would be looking at what happened and what they really need.”
“We did not anticipate this being a gigantic fundraiser, especially because it was just before Hanukkah and Christmas,” Kennedy said.
The pace of donations picked up as people in the community began talking about what the school was trying to accomplish.
Before long, donations of gift cards were arriving from all over the country, she said.
Kennedy said the school collected $1,255 in gift cards, which were donated to the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan and later distributed to individuals whose lives were turned upside down by Sandy in October.
The school also participated in the Math- A-Thon program for Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Students completed math packets sent by the hospital to schools and sought out sponsors for each of their equations.
The students raised $5,800, and Singer donated $200 to help the Taunton School reach its Math-A-Thon goal of $6,000, which was donated to the hospital, Kennedy said.
“For Sen. Singer to come in and honor us with a plaque that has gone through the Legislature, and then for him to offer us $200 to help us attain our goal [for the Math-AThon] is mind blowing,” Kennedy said about Singer’s visit.