Dr. Kathy Reilly Fallon, co-founder and chairwoman of Armonk charity Heavenly Productions Foundation, has made sure to remember that.
“According to Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg, there were approximately 40,000 New Yorkers displaced and left homeless due to Hurricane Sandy,” said Fallon, who is also an Armonk resident. “It is our hope that our foundation has helped make a difference in the lives of these people impacted by Hurricane Sandy.”
Fallon’s foundation’s latest efforts occurred last week when she visited H.C. Crittenden Middle School. Deborah DeFrancesco, a sixth-grade teacher at the middle school, helped Heavenly Productions organize a collection of food and supplies for Hurricane Sandy relief. Items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, baby wipes, cleaning agents, cat and dog food, facial tissues, and bathing goods were donated by sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students.
DeFrancesco and Fallon met in September at Back To School Night at H.C. Crittenden. Their relationship quickly turned into a launching pad for service projects.
“It is a long standing tradition here in grade six at H.C. Crittenden to conduct service projects throughout the year,” said DeFrancesco. “The type of projects differs from year to year and quarter to quarter, and is usually inspired at a grass roots level. Taking on Sandy relief is just another instance of that.”
Having already journeyed to New York locations in need with a total of eight full SUVs worth of supplies from November through January, Fallon now has enough to warrant another trip thanks to DeFrancesco and her students.
“We will be driving out to Far Rockaway and giving supplies out to the people there very soon,” she said.
Heavenly Productions Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help children in need and distress. After launching its first Backpack Outreach in September 2011, the organization has most recently delivered more than 700 backpack’s to public school Issac Clason in the Bronx and 300 backpacks to Mount Carmel Holy Rosary in East Harlem.
To find out more information about their mission and how to get involved, visit their Facebook page.
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