Every week West Islip Patch will honor one deserving student in the WI School District with the title, "Whiz Kid."
Here's the first one ...
Name/Age: Mark DeSantis, 17
Locations: West Islip High School, Our Lady or Lourdes Church
Accomplishment: Organizing a food drive to feed the hungry and donate food to Our Lady of Lourdes Church
Key to Awesomeness: Mark has recently been working hard to help his community. He was a member of Boy Scout Troop 194 in Babylon, and has since developed an interest in community goals.
During his senior year at West Islip High School, his main focus became his Eagle Scout project. After taking time to think of what to do for it, he decided on a food drive.
"I felt this would do the most for the people in need...anyone can make a bench on the street, but helping people who are struggling to have a meal to eat will make a big difference" DeSantis said.
The food drive was held at in West Islip two weeks ago. DeSantis helped collect over 1800 lbs. of food in this freezing cold and snowy weather.
"It was all worth the while, i'm just happy that we were able to accomplish something like this," he said.
He has set a goal of 2,500 lbs. of food to be donated to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in West Islip.
Outside of his generous charity work, DeSantis is working hard in his senior year and currently finishing his college application process. He will continue his work with the community and not stop until his goals are met.
If you'd like to nominate a student for our weekly Whiz Kid column, email suggestions to anthonyv@patch.com
