Builder's Club learns value of helping others

Carl Sandburg Middle School student Dylan Colon performs "Help" from the Beatles during the recent charity lip-sync show organized by the school's Builder's Club. The event raised $3,334 for the Old Bridge Food Bank, Township with a Heart and the families of two students.

OLD BRIDGE - The first-ever Builder's Club at Carl Sandburg Middle School built a reputation for making a difference over the past school year.

The club recently held its largest fundraising event, a lip-sync and dance show that raised $3,334, or more than half their original goal. The money went to the Old Bridge Food Bank, Township with a Heart and to the families of two students - one battling a serious illness, the other killed tragically in a car accident.

The Builder's Club had its beginnings last year as the 7B Volunteer Club, formed by students Poonam Thakur and Sarah Khaled to help Pakistani earthquake victims. This year, the Kiwanis Club of Old Bridge approached the group and sponsored it as the first Builder's Club in the township.

For the lip-sync event, the club sold more than 400 tickets and received donations from staff, students and local businesses. Some 19 acts performed, and actor Dan Grimaldi, who played "Patsy Parrissi" on the Soprano's, made a guest appearance, auctioning off a signed pilot episode of the HBO show.

The club's 60 active students donated more than 1,000 books to charity and raised more than $500 during the winter holidays for families in need. They also donated to Toys for Tots, ran a coat drive, sent letters to troops overseas and sent letters to children in residential facilities.

"Our kids are learning so much from this experience," said club adviser Melissa Chaisnov. "They are learning the value of helping others, empathy and self-satisfaction."