Jan. 19, 2006

The word is out: The Capital Region BOCES Faculty Association has pledged to match — up to $5,000 — donations to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund from Capital Region BOCES faculty, staff and administrators. Coordinator Diane Kavanaugh, left, passes the word on to FA President Doug Harple, who relays it to the executive board, that the campaign ends Jan. 31 and has so far raised more than $2,000.

Virginia Figura has a motto: "Teaching materials belong in teachers' hands."

That philosophy moved her to organize a mass shipment of geography teaching resources — including scores of maps, teacher tool-kits and videos — to Louisiana educators following the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Figura, a retiree from Franklinville Teachers Association in Cattaraugus County , is one of many retirees who are contributing time, supplies and — most importantly — money to aid hurricane victims through New York State United Teachers' Disaster Relief Fund.

"We had these surplus materials sitting around in storage and we had planned to simply give them away to interested teachers," she said. "When I heard about the devastation of the hurricanes, I knew we had to send the materials down there."

Figura heads the New York Geographic Alliance, a group that sponsors teacher workshops to promote geography education. The alliance is affiliated with and funded by the National Geographic Society and based at the State University College at Buffalo .

Monetary donations from retiree groups include:

• Retirees of Western New York, a coalition of Retiree Councils 1, 2 and 3, which collected a total of $500;
• RC 21, representing Suffolk County on Long Island , which contributed $500;
• Teachers Retired in Florida members, many of whom suffered hurricane damage themselves, donated $100 to the NYSUT fund;
• RC12 contributed $500;
• RC 19's Port Washington chapter contributed $100 to the fund; and
• Members of the Retired Educators Chapter of the Great Neck TA held a retiree luncheon auction, raising $325.

To contribute to NYSUT's tax-deductible disaster relief fund, visit www.nysut.org.

— Kara E. Smith

NYSUT.org. Copyright New York State United Teachers. 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, New York, 12110-2455. 518.213.6000. http://www.nysut.org.