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Fifteen city high schoolers traveled to Fire Island earlier this month, cleaning up debris and removing lumber from a storm-ravaged boardwalk.
“It was an area I knew had been affected by the storm and it felt good that I could help out and do my part,” Saunders High School sophomore Edwin Benitez told Groundwork Hudson Valley following the April 6 trip.
Much of Fire Island, a 32-mile island in Suffolk County, was flooded and several waterfront homes were destroyed when Hurricane Sandy hit in October. Six months later, the island is still picking up the pieces, with rebuilding efforts expected to last long past the summer months.
The Yonkers teens made the relief trip along with several adults as part of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Environmental Adventurers program. Working alongside volunteers from The New York Society for Ethical Culture and the National Park Service, the group bagged and removed nearly one ton of debris, said Curt Collier, director of National Youth Programs at Groundwork Hudson Valley and trip coordinator.
“Most of the youth had never done restoration work, but they never stopped working or sat down,” he said.
As part of the trip, the teens were also given a tour of the Fire Island Lighthouse and traveled to Jones Beach to see hurricane recovery efforts there.
“Seeing the damage at the lighthouse made the work really relevant,” Sara Smith-Sell, a senior at Sarah Lawrence College and intern of Groundwork’s new Get Fresh Yonkers program, said in a statement.
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