Through our non-profit organization, Play-Well Outreach, we were lucky enough to work with children in March 2013, at Belle Harbor School in Rockaway, NY.  Many of the families there had been displaced by Hurricane Sandy.  The 55 kids, in attendance, helped rebuild part of Rockaway, in their own way, using LEGO.

Kids rebuilding their city out of LEGO.

We talked about the importance of the community, our engineers, construction workers, our leaders, and even how kids can help with the relief effort.  Parents even joined in on the fun once we got started. We split the engineers into 3 groups, and kids chose what part of the Rockaway they wanted to build.  It was rewarding to see the kids learning the importance of teamwork and being united, just as their families and community have learned during this time of need.

At the end of the day, all the kids combined their sections of the city to rebuild Rockaway, NY.

The  families, who in some cases are still homeless, carried a level of resilience that is inspiring.  Long after the storm, there are many families still working to rebuild their homes in Rockaway, and this gave the kids an opportunity to also contribute.  If you’d like to help support the work being done to rebuild in Rockaway and surrounding communities after Hurricane Sandy, you can donate to these organizations:

Rockaway Help

Americares

Here is a video of the devastation that hit Rockaway: