By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Operation Friends Again, which aims to help the youngest victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, has extended the deadline to Oct. 27 to collect items to fill more than 1,000 “hurricane relief” boxes.
Operation Friends Again, which is a joint effort between the Montgomery Township Public School District and community volunteers, seeks to fill 1,300 boxes full of clothing, toys and school supplies for children ages 4-14.
The Montgomery school district has “adopted” two schools in Houston – the Dogan Elementary School and the Sugar Grove Middle School – and wants to help the students and staff who lost their possessions in the hurricane last month.
Operation Friends Again volunteers will load the boxes onto a truck and drive it directly to the two schools, and will present a box directly to a child who has lost everything because of Hurricane Harvey.
Empty gift boxes are available for free from the True Value hardware store at the ShopRite shopping center on Route 206, and at any one of the five Montgomery Township public schools.
Each box should be prepared for one child, ages 4 to 14, with three or four changes of new clothing, underwear, pajamas, toiletries, and age-appropriate toys, games, magazines or puzzles.
Pillows and blankets, as well as non-perishable school snacks, are some of the items that could be packed in the boxes. School supplies, such as backpacks, markers, pens and paper, also are needed.
Donors are encouraged to enclose a note to the child to make it a little more personal. Including one’s name and address will make it easier for the child to write a thank-you note to the donor.
The gender and size of the clothing should be written on the boxes to make it easier to distribute them.
The boxes should be packed full to avoid collapsing when they are stacked in the truck. It is not necessary to seal the boxes when they are dropped off. Volunteers will seal the boxes.
The boxes can be dropped off at any of the five Montgomery Township public schools, the school district administration building at the Montgomery High School campus, or the barn at the Daube Farm at 361 Sunset Road.
Cash donations also would be welcomed. Checks should be made payable to Operation Friends and mailed to P.O. Box 200, Skillman, NJ 08558. The full donation will be used to help the children.
For more information, visit www.mtsd.k12.nj.us/Page/16365, or Operation Friends’ Facebook page.
