At the opening school meetings, right at the same time that Katrina hit, it was foremost in the mind of the community to help in as many ways as possible. So the first of many efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina began in late September with a fundraising fair. The Student Organization for Service (SOS) chose the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity as this year’s recipients of proceeds from Super Saturday, their annual fundraiser for charity. Participants in the event enjoyed a day of games, food, music, haunted houses, and socializing with classmates. They raised $4,700 from the fair and the Upper School dance that followed in the evening. Money was also collected in the Lower and Middle Schools, making the total cash donation just shy of $17,000.

Simultaneously, the all-school service group organized a drive for diapers, underwear, and socks for families who have temporarily made Philadelphia their home. Jay Jennings, all-school coordinator for service, along with faculty volunteers, Betsy Leschinsky, Sandi Richards, and Deb Veraldi, and SOS co-heads Missy Genazzio ’06 and Chris Wills ’06 delivered the mountains of items collected to the Wanamaker School in Philadelphia, where 80 people are still staying and which is a distribution point for families who have relocated to other parts of the city. 

For these families these small gestures have meant much; making these gestures means as much to the volunteers. Senior, Leya Egea-Hinton, has made her own unique contribution to helping Katrina victims. She has been a volunteer at the Wanamaker School. “Well, really it’s been a great experience for me. When the hurricane hit and I saw everything that was going on, and the devastation, I wanted to help. I got lucky because my mom is the Director of Emergency Shelter Services for the City. The first day was crazy and it was not like I had expected. I thought that I was going to be working with people from New Orleans but that was not the case. I soon discovered that they would not be coming to Philly for about a week, so I took a position in the command center. The command center was like the heart of the whole operation. I did everything from directing people to locations, making signs, and making announcements. Although I was not hands-on, I still felt like I made a difference. This experience showed me that it doesn’t matter what you do to help, it’s the impact of what you’re doing that helps.”

Shipley is committed this year to continue to do what it can to help families affected by the extraordinary devastation recently wrought by Mother Nature.