For the past month, students here and throughout Regional School Unit 5 have worked to collect school supplies for their counterparts in Sandy-ravaged Freeport, N.Y.

According to Dede Bennell, the service learning coordinator at Freeport High School here, large donations came from Big Al’s in Wiscasset, Casey Family Services, Sherman’s Book Stores, CVS Pharmacy and Cool As A Moose. More than $1,000 was donated, including from Bath Savings Bank, collections at Freeport Middle School, Zachau Construction, a fundraiser by Jobs for Maine’s Graduates and unnamed private donors.

The deadline for collections officially passed on Dec. 20, but students will accept cash or gift card donations until Jan. 21, Bennell said.

Several days after the late- October storm severely damaged the Long Island town’s middle and high schools, their youths went back to class in disparate school buildings and without many notebooks, writing instruments and other items.

Durham’s Abigial Smith, a junior at Freeport High School, started a drive to collect school supplies. The Interact Club, a student-level chapter of Rotary International, and RSU 5’s Service Learning Program soon joined in and a legion of businesses and citizens began bringing bags and boxes of goods for the New Yorkers.

Students and staff plan to organize and sort the items in early January. On Jan. 27, several students and adult volunteers will drive the loot in a RSU 5 van and pickup truck to Nassau County, N.Y.

Bennell and guidance counselor Dana Clark will pilot the van; the truck belongs to Matt Morrison of Freeport’s Rotary International chapter. Students Smith, Hannah Morrison, Sophie Smith, Sarah Bonney and Shelby Sawyer also will travel south.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com