Students conduct fundraiser to help pay for Florida trip

Lauren Pelaia, 12, and her fellow Marlboro Middle School pupils help unload donations of used toys and clothing that students in the Jazz Band and Show Choir collected on Jan. 30 to raise money for a trip to Florida. For more photos, visit www.gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff MARLBORO — Despite frigid temperatures on Jan. 30, members of the community still came out to help students who perform with the Marlboro Middle School Jazz Band and Show Choir in the children’s latest fundraising effort.

Students and parent volunteers braved the cold temperature as they collected donations of clothing, home goods and toys from area residents.

The donated items will be weighed and the jazz band and show choir will receive a monetary donation based upon the weight of the collected items.

So many cars pulled up outside the Marlboro Middle School, Route 520, throughout the day that the volunteers lost count of the exact number of vehicles and people who showed up to make a donation.

Linda Sakowitz was one of many parents who came together to plan the fundraiser. The money raised will help offset the cost of a competition trip to Orlando, Fla., during spring break, April 8-13. The students and their chaperones, some of whom are school employees, are expected to miss two days of school.

Additional fundraisers are being planned to help pay for the trip to Florida.

Sakowitz said two large trucks were loaded with the items that were donated on Jan. 30. It was not known at deadline how much money the effort generated.

— Rebecca Morton