South Huntington's Maplewood Students Raise $600 For LA Wildfire Victims

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Those who walk into Maplewood Intermediate School in Huntington Station will come across a wall full of smiling faces with a big message for all those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires: "Maplewood Loves California."

It’s the "Pictures for a Purpose: Caring for L.A." fundraising project that was started by two of the school’s teachers. Maplewood students helped raise more than $600 that will go to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization that provides meals to first responders and families in communities around the world devastated by crises.

Teachers Cristina DeAngelis and Linda Muratore, both speech and language pathologists at Maplewood, wanted to come up with a way to help support the west coast firefighting and cleanup effort as a school and a community.

"Just seeing how so many people have lost so much, especially the students in the schools and the local families, it was a way for us to come together in support of something bigger," DeAngelis said in a news release.

The idea of how to raise money came out of how well these teachers know their students.

"I was just thinking about kids," Muratore said. "What do kids like? Selfies are a big thing. And we talked about how they like to see themselves. So we thought [photos] would be a fun way for a child to show their contribution. It was nice to have the students feel like they could participate in something and then see their donation and their generosity come to life by seeing their faces on the board."

Maplewood set up a photobooth in the school from Jan. 21 through Jan. 31. They made large photo frame props for the kids to hold with interchangeable phrases including "Sending love to California," "First responders, you are our heroes," and "We are stronger when we stand together."

For $2 a photo, students could take a picture solo, or with friends or teachers. And, in some cases, whole classes showed their support together. At the end of two weeks, they had raised nearly $650 and had a wall full of happy, helping faces.

The lesson in kindness was also a lesson in current events. DeAngelis and Muratore say they’ve been talking about the wildfires in class and showing students where California is on the map.

"We would always say to the students as they were taking their picture, 'Thank you for helping out. You're helping feed the firefighters trying to put out the fires in California,'" Muratore said. "It's nice for [the students] to give back as part of a community. And also a way to show that everybody needs help sometimes."