Babylon Students Get a Special Thank You for Tsunami Support

The Babylon Memorial Grade School received a letter this month from Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York Shigeyuki Hiroki as a token of appreciation for the students' relief efforts in the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami of 2011 that claimed the lives of over 19,000 people.

Last year, Babylon Grade School fourth-grade teacher Wanda Haggerty created "patch pillows" that were shipped to Japan's Tohoku region, an area that was hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. "Once again, thank you for your generosity, your kindness and your friendship," Hiroki wrote in her letter to the grade school. "The people of Japan were truly heartened by yoursupport, and share my feelings of deep gratitude to our friends abroad."

"My class made pillows to send to the children in Japan who lost everything," Haggerty said.

"The students gave up their recess time to create a total of nine patch pillows, and parents also helped with the process. It was a great community-building and sharing activity to help those in need."

Shown are Wanda Haggerty's fourth-grade class from last year, now fifth-graders at Babylon Memorial Grade School, posing with copies of the letter of appreciation the school received from Ambassador and Consul General ofJapan in New York Shigeyuki Hiroki.

Photo provided by Eric Holden/Syntax.