Last year when Hurricane Irma slammed into St. Maarten, a family in Norwalk, Connecticut, had to change their vacation plans. They normally spend two weeks on The Friendly Island every year, but with the news that they were hearing about the island, they were worried about their friends here and about the hotels and businesses, but especially the schools. Their son Aiden asked what they could do to help. With the help of his mom and dad, Aiden made a plan.
They decided in March to start a collection drive at Aiden’s school, All Saints Catholic School, for school supplies, art materials and other things children need to have a good education. “We got a lot of supplies donated and we put them into a big suitcase and brought them here. We tried to get the airline to give us free shipping since it was for the schools, but they would do that. Anyway, we arrived; and four days later, we took the supplies to Sister Marie Laurence School.”
When they arrived at the Middle Region campus and showed the classes the supplies, the children got wide-eyed. “They were calling out, ‘I want this,’ and ‘I want that!’ It was fun to see how excited they were.”
The family stopped by the newspaper office to talk about their donation to the school. “It feels good to help others,” Aiden said. “The school looked a little run down, but it’s better than having no school at all.”
Aiden says he loves swimming, baseball and playing with anything that flies. His favourite subject in school is history and he confidently said to this reporter, “Ask me anything!” With a quick touch on some topics such as the French Revolution and World War II, the reporter was very impressed. Then the family loaded up to go to the beach for some swimming; after all, they are on vacation!
