Kids helping kids

All across the city, children have been watching their parents and other adults in the community helping people affected by Hurricane Sandy. In turn, many kids are lending a hand themselves. High School sports teams have gone door-to-door offering to help clean up debris, Brownie troops have organized book collections for schools whose libraries were wiped out, and countless boys and girls have parted with beloved playthings and chosen new ones to donate to toy drives.

“It feels good to do something nice for someone else,” says 9-year-old Georgia Fumusa, a fourth grader at PS 58 in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and a founding member of the school’s charity bake sale club, Cookie Kids. On a single, sunny Saturday last month, the Cookie Kids raised a whopping $1,300 to support their peers at nearby PS 15, in hard-hit Red Hook.

Of her club’s contribution, Fumusa reflects, “It goes to show that kids really can do something to make the world a better place.”

In the midst of a tragedy, these children are learning the true meaning of the holidays — that the deepest joy comes from giving to others.