NK Girl Helps NJ School Hit by Hurricane

One North Kingstown girl isn’t letting 200 miles stop her from making a difference in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Rylie Wallace, a student a Hamilton Elementary School in North Kingstown, has been busy the past month as she collects school supplies and for an elementary school in New Jersey that was hit hard by the October storm.

It all started as Rylie and her family watched the coverage of Hurricane Sandy on television, as images and video poured in of the devastation that the storm wrought on the eastern seaboard. She watched as homes were washed away, buildings flooded and thousands upon thousands of families displaced.

“When I saw the pictures it broke my heart,” said eight-year-old Rylie.

For the Wallace family, the storm hit home as Rylie’s aunt Tina Brown, a teacher at Union Beach Memorial School in New Jersey, watched her school flood with water. According to Brown, the school took on a foot of water that permeated the entire building. Carpets, books, construction paper, furniture, student-made artwork –everything in the building was destroyed. Since the storm, students and staff have been displaced and are currently housed at another school. It's expected to reopen some time early next year.

Upon hearing the news, Rylie told her parents she wanted to help.

“She originally wanted to grab pencils form her desk and send them down,” said Rylie’s father, Jeff Wallace.

Rylie then recalled a fundraiser effort that she had been part of earlier in the year called SoccerRECYCLE. The program, . Since 2010, Cassandra and Christiana Layman have helped shipped thousands of articles of clothing and gear down to Haiti.

Inspired by the sisters, Rylie (with the help of her parents) began a collection drive at Hamilton Elementary School – collecting everything from pens to pencils to scissors to tissues and gift cards to send down to Union Beach Memorial School. During a video chat with her aunt, Rylie asked what supplies the school needed. According to Rylie’s parents, the gesture brought her aunt to tears.

To spread awareness, Rylie and her parents created flyers and even a video, (attached above) depicting the devastation of Sandy, which was shown to everyone at school.

The collection drive began last Monday and the bin at Hamilton Elementary School is already overflowing. The Wallaces have been unable to use their dining room table for the past week, because it’s covered with donations.

It’s not just parents and students who are donating: even school staff is helping out. According to Jeff Wallace, a custodian at Hamilton Elementary gave him $20 to put toward the purchase of a Staples gift card.

“It’s amazing,” said Wallace. “These people are coming from all over the place to help.”

Staples is also looking to chip in. According to Rylie’s mother Robyn, the North Kingstown branch is reaching out to their home office to donate. In the event home office says no, the employees have started their own fundraising to help the effort. Stop & Shop and Walmart are also donating gift cards.

The collection drive will end on Dec. 14. The following day, Rylie and her parents are packing the family minivan and heading down to deliver the supplies to New Jersey.

“My goal is to stuff the minivan,” said Rylie.

To learn how you can help the collection drive for Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach, NJ, contact Jeff Wallace at jeffreymwallace@hotmail.com.

Below is a list of supplies needed:

• crayons
• markers
• pencils
• teacher's pens
• construction paper
• scissors
• flashcards
• games
• notebooks
• gluesticks
• glue
• folders
• note pads
• sticky notes
• poster board
• tissues
• books
• hand sanitizer
• highlighters
• watercolors
• paints
• index cards
• erasers
• tape
• dry erase markers
• pencil sharpeners
• staples/staplers
• rulers
• lined paper
• poster-size stickies
• bulletin boards
• decorations