Local Woman Collecting School Supplies for Sandy Victims

Nancy Wind is an elementary teacher at Fred Miller Elementary School in Holliston, so she understands well the importance of pencils, paper, crayons and other school supplies to young students.

So when her school decided to come together for a school supply drive to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, Wind was not only excited about the project, she offered to drive the donations to Long Island, N.Y., when she heads that way to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family.

But Wind didn't stop there. She decided to expand the effort to her hometown, Wayland, where she knew her neighbors would want to help. So from now until Wednesday, Nov. 21 at noon, Wind is keeping bins outside her home at 197 Lakeshore Drive where individuals can drop off school supplies of all colors and shapes.

"You can donate new pens, pencils, rulers. markers, crayons, paper, notebooks, sticky notes, index cards, calculators etc. anything that will help a child at school or at home," Wind wrote in an email she circulated among friends. "So many people have lost everyting they owned. I know it's short notice but I'm happy to collect anything."

In addition to collecting items at her home, Wind has also received permission to collect items tonight and Saturday from attendees at Wayland High School's production of "Voices from the Fire" and also those attending the WHS a cappella concert on Monday, Nov. 19.

Wind plans to take the supplies to Oceanside, a town near where her grandparents lived when she was growing up. She knows the area was particularly hard hit by Sandy and she intends to drop off the supplies the day after Thanksgiving and then spend some time volunteering.

Wind said her only concern is that she could receive too many donations to transport in her own car. She is seeking another person or family who is headed to Long Island for Thanksgiving to possibly partner with her to transport some supplies.

Anyone with questions about the drive or who could transport some supplies to Long Island in their own car is asked to contact Wind at nrwind@gmail.com.