Community Star of the Week: July 27, 2020

NewYorkIslanders.com and Ridgewood Savings Bank are spotlighting heroes who are helping their community! Nominate a community hero here!
After Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas in September 2019, Miles Clark was moved to take action.
The Bridgehampton High School junior was a world away from the effects of the category five hurricane, but after seeing families left with nothing after a storm, he wanted to make sure they had some of the essentials. Clark started a clothing drive, collecting 650 pounds of shoes, flip flops, hats and other summer clothing.

"It's a super easy opportunity being privileged and living in the Hamptons to help out some kids who don't have that privilege," Clark said. "It's just [seemed like] a good idea to spread around school and see if I could get some people to help out, give old clothes and things they wouldn't need regularly and get it down there."
Clark's family has a work connection to one of the smaller islands in the Bahamas, so he was already planning to be there and didn't want to show up empty-handed. He knew of families who had lost their homes and possessions to flooding, and wanted to alleviate whatever burden he could.

"It would be a tiny amount of work on my part to get something that would be a massive amount of work on their families," Clark said. "They are trying to get their lives back together and think where they are going to move next… it's the least I can do having the opportunity to go there."
Bridgehampton High School is small, but rallied behind Clark's cause. It only took one morning announcement and he had a team of volunteers who were donating clothes, packing boxes and making flyers.
"It was a great success for how small the school was, we got an amazing amount of clothes," Clark said. "Everyone was invested."
The displacement on the big islands caused an influx of families to the smaller islands like the one Clark visited. He organized some games for the kids, like kickball, to take their minds off the situation.
"All of these kids were cooped up with nothing to do," Clark said. "It was good to do just brighten their spirits, do sports with them and get them to think about other stuff."

NOMINATE A HERO
The experience has inspired Clark to get more active in the community. He's already started thinking about what he can bring with him the next time his family goes down. It's also showed him that it's possible to make a difference in the lives of others, even in a community that's far away.
"Even if I made an impact on 10 families, it's just good to know I'm still helping from my isolated spot in the Hamptons and am still able to do something," Clark said.
"If I can do that much in three weeks of a clothing drive, with more effort there are so many other things to tackle," he added. "It's opened my eyes."
Nominated by Islanders Alumnus Steve Webb's Team Up 4 Community Program www.TeamUp4Community.org