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We sent 4 boxes to the Kinaffe School full of kindness from the South Shore, MA.

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Backpacks each have a bathing suit, water bottle, goggles, sports t-shirt, crayons, coloring pencils, art pads, cards and letters from local Massachusetts children.

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Lemonade! Girls raising money at Lemonade Stand

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Lemonade! Girls raising money at Lemonade Stand

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Girls getting the word out for the backpack drive!

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Making cards & letters

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Thank you South Elementary in Hingham for all your cards & letters!

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We're sending items the school has suggested directly from Amazon! Some of these are larger items that are more difficult to ship from MA. Thank you for your support!

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We have a unique opportunity to help not only a community in need but to support the people of Ukraine. The Kinaffe School has more than tripled its student body and welcomed 15 Ukrainian students who were fleeing the war in their home country. Please help support these kids bring back their childhood!

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Lax Team Filling Boxes of Food for Ukraine

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Lax Team Filling Boxes of Food for Ukraine

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In May, working with EndHunger, the team filled boxes of food to ship to Ukraine.

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Veterans Services in Cohasset is also helping in this effort to help students!

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More From Drivetime

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Mayo School Saved from Closure Thanks to Ukrainian Refugees

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We, the residents of Cohasset, have a unique opportunity to help not only a community in need but to support the people of Ukraine.

In March of 2022, the Kinaffe School in County Mayo, Ireland, faced imminent closure.

Rural depopulation over the last few decades has contributed to this sad situation. Then, everything changed for the school overnight as the nearby Breaffy Woods Hotel opened its doors and took on 300+ Ukrainian refugees.

Suddenly, the Kinaffe School had more than tripled its student body and welcomed 15 Ukrainian students. A school that had previously consisted of only 6 students and 1 teacher!

Their principal, Margaret Reilly (and extended family member of a local Cohasset family), shared that she felt there was now a future for her school that seemed to previously have no future. The school would now have the opportunity to be "part of living history" and feels that they now have a purpose. They have since hired additional teachers and the local children and Ukrainian children are being educated together within the school's three classrooms.

So what exactly is our mission?

Ms. Reilly has communicated with various community members here in Cohasset, particularly with Mr. Hank Kucinski (resident of South Main St., dad of 3 former Cohasset students and current coach of the 7th grade girls town lacrosse team). She has identified numerous needs that the school now has since accepting the responsibility of educating 15 refugee students.

1. Funds that would allow the school to purchase iPads to be used in the classrooms

2. Funds to purchase additional teaching materials (ie math tools and manipulatives, books, school supplies)

3. Funds to be used to take the children on field trips

4. Funds to be used to purchase food for snacks and lunches at school

5. Funds to be used to purchase sporting equipment (recess, playground, physical education)

This feels like the perfect challenge for our town to live up to our slogan: "small town, big impact." It's our goal to raise at least $10,000.00 to gift to the Kinaffe School to get them up and running in time for a fresh school year start in September, ready and well-equipped to serve their (newly) larger student body. In order to do this, we intend to launch this fundraiser now in June and to end it on July 15th, 2022, in order to give the school sufficient time to use the funds to purchase all technology, equipment, clothing, etc. in time for their new school year in September.

Some important details:
Hank Kucinski has set up a Bank of America account separately for this fundraiser. All proceeds from this GoFundMe will go directly into that account, which we will close on July 15th and then transfer all funds collected to the Kinaffe School's bank account.
Your donations through GoFundMe are not tax deductible; they are considered a "personal gift."
*If you have ANY questions at all about the Kinaffe School, this fundraiser, or how it's funds will be used for the Ukranian refugee children in County Mayo, please reach out to Hank or myself (Gina Swanberg).
If you're interested in reading more about what's happening at the Kinaffe School in Country Mayo:
Irish Times article

Read more

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Cohasset Supports the Kinaffe School, organized by Gina Swanberg

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We, the residents of Cohasset, have a unique opportunity to help not only a community in need but to support the people of Ukraine. In March of 2022, the Kinaffe School in County Mayo, Ireland, faced imminent closure. Rural depopulation over the last few decades has contributed to this sad situation.

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A Co Mayo primary school hit by drastically declining enrolment figures has seen its numbers boosted significantly by the arrival of Ukrainian refugees.

There are now 21 pupils attending Kinaffe National School, near Swinford, compared with just six less than two months ago.

Reflecting on the increase, school principal Margaret Reilly said on Monday: "The influx of new pupils was not something we could have foreseen. It has proven a godsend, not just for our school but for the entire community."

"Our school, indeed the locality, has been transformed by tragic events thousands of miles away. Connections of humanity and the heart have transcended all political and geographical barriers."

As a result of the sharp increase in enrolment, the short-term future of the school has been assured.

The new arrivals were understandably a little nervous and withdrawn when they first arrived in early April.

Pupils, who come from areas badly affected by the war, would dive beneath their desks when jets took off from nearby Ireland West Airport Knock. The school is on the outbound flight path from the airport.

"Now the children are much relaxed and settled," Ms Reilly said. "No longer do they associate aeroplane engine noise with danger and destruction."

Some of the young émigrés, with the assistance of their teachers and Google Translate, offered opinions on their new environment.

"I like the rain," said Taras (13) as he pointed to a darkening sky, while Liza (11) said she liked being out and about in nature.

More than 300 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, are being accommodated at Breaffy Woods Hotel near Castlebar. Apart from Kinaffe, 32km away, pupils are also bussed daily to primary schools in Breaffy, Belcarra and Balla. Kinaffe has taken the highest number of youngsters.

The school, formerly staffed just by Ms Reilly and Eleanor Hyland, now has four tutors following recruitment by the Department of Education of Caroline Leonard and Maria McNulty to help cope with the extra workload.

Ms Leonard said the new pupils were doing well. "We can feel them settling in," she said. "We can feel the calm. Working with these children who are always smiling is so rewarding."

Ms Reilly said the entire community was assisting the school in welcoming, educating and nurturing the new arrivals who range in age from four to 13.

Businesses and individuals have made donations including toys and musical instruments, while the three most requested items are wellington boots, raincoats and schoolbags.

Mary Davis, chief executive of Special Olympics International, who contested the presidential election in 2011, attended the school in the 1960s. There were 150 pupils then, she recalled in an interview with The Irish Times when she revisited her old primary school while campaigning.

Enrolment numbers in 2011 when Mrs Davis called had fallen to 16. For decades, school numbers have been seesawing.

Crisis point was reached in the mid-1990s when the very existence of the school, which had only three pupils on the roll, was threatened.

Ms Reilly recalled how the local community rose to the challenge. Among the fundraising events organised was a marathon in Dublin, which raised enough money for the board of management to pay a teacher's salary for a year.

In 2008, Kinaffe School, built nearly a century earlier, was upgraded at a cost of more than €750,000. The old roof was replaced, the building drained and a new AstroTurf, basketball and tennis court provided. There are three spacious, fully equipped, classrooms.

"It would have been such a pity were such a fine educational facility to have been idle or underused," the principal said.

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'It's a godsend': Arrival of Ukrainian pupils secures Mayo school's future

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A Co Mayo primary school hit by drastically declining enrolment figures has seen its numbers boosted significantly by the arrival of Ukrainian refugees. There are now 21 pupils attending Kinaffe National School, near Swinford, compared with just six less than two months ago.