Sept. 20, 2005

 

MOORESTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL AND EDMUND OPTICS INC.

COMBINE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT 10,000 KATRINA VICTIMS IN HOUSTON-AREA SCHOOLS

Students, parents, staff and faculty at Moorestown Friends School in Moorestown, New Jersey have joined forces with Edmund Optics Inc. in Barrington, New Jersey to expedite the delivery of needed school supplies to thousands of school children recently relocated from the Gulf Coast to the Houston, Texas area. It is estimated that Houston may have as many as 10,000 additional students to educate this year who have been evacuated to the area from hurricane-ravaged cities in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.

Members of the Moorestown Friends School community -- students, parents, faculty and staff -- have collected more than 40 cartons of school supplies including calculators, pens, pencils, notebooks, crayons, folders and construction paper.

The MFS community also has collected more than $250 in donations for the American Red Cross. The money is being raised through donations and through a wide range of Upper School fund-raising activities, including a breakfast, a pajama day on Fri., Sept. 23 and a decision to donate the proceeds from an upcoming dance to relief efforts.

Edmund Optics has also pledged $10,000 to the Red Cross and is matching all employee contributions to the effort.

MFS students and staff are sorting the donated items into packing boxes per guidelines from the Red Cross so that the needed materials can be easily identified and distributed. Senior classes are aiding in the inventory of items and are organizing the final packing.

On Friday, Sept. 23 at 1:30 p.m., representatives of Edmund Optics Inc. will pick up the supplies from MFS and will prepare the items for expedited delivery from its distribution center.

The Edmund family, owners of Edmund Optics, Inc., has a long association with the Moorestown Friends School community. Nicole Edmund, a 1986 graduate of the school, teaches Middle and Upper School Art, and several other family members are MFS graduates.

Laurence R. Van Meter, Head of School at MFS, noted, “We have been overwhelmed by the community’s support and believe we have enough supplies to make a significant impact on the needs of the Harris County School System.”

Likewise, John Stack, President of Edmund Optics noted, “It is critical that volunteer organizations and businesses work together to rapidly assist these school systems and the communities working to relocate Gulf Coast residents.