Rippowam Cisqua Students Help Children at Northern Westchester Hospital

On Wednesday, February 13th, the Rippowam Cisqua School community came together for the annual Get Well Soon Winter Toy Collection to benefit children in the Pediatric Unit at Northern Westchester Hospital.  The hospital gives a new toy to each child when he or she enters the Pediatric Unit.  This exchange helps provide comfort to the young patients and helps to ease the transition when they visit the hospital.  The hospital is in need of toys throughout the year, and the RCS community enthusiastically rallied behind the cause in an effort to help meet this need by collecting and donating hundreds of toys.

During the first 2 weeks of February, students, parents, faculty, and staff members collected new toys for the hospital, and after school hours on February 13th, eleven Lower Campus students and their parents met to gather the toys and deliver them in person to the hospital.  When they arrived with their carloads of toys, Northern Westchester Hospital President and CEO Joel Seligman was there to greet the children and express his gratitude for their support and generosity.  The students delivered more than twenty boxes of toys, and afterward, they gathered outside of the hospital for a picture with Mr. Seligman to commemorate their donation. 

This is the fourth year that Rippowam Cisqua School has organized this event, and the first time that the students have formally presented the toys to the hospital leadership.  The event was organized by second and fourth grade parent Pam Lawson and third grade parent and Lower Campus Community Service Coordinator Alison Kallman, and the students helped to lead the way by donating, gathering, and delivering the toys.  It was a collaborative, community-wide effort, reflective of the core values of teaching and learning at Rippowam Cisqua. 

On the Friday morning following the event, the students who took part in the toy delivery were recognized for their efforts at a Lower Campus assembly and were acknowledged for their commitment to helping others by a resounding round of applause from the peers and their teachers. 

To learn more about Rippowam Cisqua School, you can visit the school’s website at www.rcsny.org.