HYDE PARK – Members of the Roosevelt Fire District delivered school supplies and fire safety information to elementary students at North Park Elementary and Ralph R. Smith schools. The packages coincided with students returning to school and fire prevention week.
This past Thursday, department members, using a fire engine and rescue rig, delivered 861 bags to the schools; one for each student. Each bag contained two composition books, two folders, 24 Crayola crayons, a glue stick, and a bottle of hand sanitizer.
The Roosevelt Fire District paid for all of the supplies out of their Fire Safety/Fire Prevention budget.
Department members assigned to the public education division assembled all of the bags prior to delivery.
Roosevelt Fire Lieutenant Christopher Beyer, the district’s Fire Safety/Public education director, and the Fire Safety Committee presented the idea to the district and coordinated the list of needed supplies with educators from the Hyde Park Central School District.
“The committee was looking at ideas to help the families of the Roosevelt Fire District navigate through these unprecedented times so that the children could have the necessary materials/learning tools to succeed,” Beyer said. “We were able to compile a list of what each teacher in both schools required their students to have and purchased the requested amount of those supplies.”
“This is important to us because the community has always supported us and we felt the need to give back to the community. When times are tough, communities come together to help one another, neighbors helping others,” said Roosevelt Assistant Chief Ray Sretz.
“The Roosevelt Fire District strives to be there for the community in their time of need and the vast majority of the time this is seen in our response to emergencies. We wanted to help our residents, children, and the school district in a way that is different than protecting property and saving lives. We have all been affected by this pandemic in one way or another. Our community has always been there for us and with this small gesture to try and ease some of the financial burdens our community has endured, they will see that the Roosevelt Fire District is there for them as well,” said Beyer.
