FREEPORT – Freeport High School students and staff made good on their promise to deliver school supplies to the Hurricane Sandy-battered schools in Freeport, N.Y.

The initiative, dubbed Freeport to Freeport, was the brainchild of Freeport High senior Abigail Smith, who led a community-wide effort to gather notebooks, backpacks and other essential school supplies to aid in the recovery effort. In addition to the much-needed supplies, the group also collected $1,000 in gift cards. On Jan. 28, seven from Freeport made the 300-mile trip to New York to deliver the items, which they gave to guidance counselors to distribute to families still reeling from the October storm blamed for hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damages.

“The response was incredible,” said Dede Bennell, Freeport High’s learning service coordinator. She was among those making the trip to New York. “It was an outpouring of appreciation and gratitude.”

Bennell said the group toured the classrooms of Gibyln Elementary School and also met with New York’s Freeport High Schools student government, principal, and members of the school board.

“The spirit that these people have is incredible,” said Bennell. “You can sense it’s really difficult for them right now, but they are making the best of the situation.”

Bennell said the students in New York showed their appreciation by creating giant thank-you cards and singing a song written especially for the Freeport group. The students and school officials also spoke candidly about their experience, which left a deep impression on Freeport, Maine seniors Sophie Smith and Sarah Bonney who volunteered their time to help deliver the supplies.

“These kids are wise beyond their years” Smith said. “The resiliency and attitude they have is amazing. It makes you appreciate what you have.”

The extent of the devastation is still evident, said Bonney, and served to underscore the difficult task ahead of the students and greater Freeport, N.Y., community. The October storm crippled entire swaths of the New York and New Jersey coast and left thousands homeless. According to published reports, the recovery in Freeport continues but is expected to be slow and costly.

The Freeport to Freeport donation drive was truly a community effort, said Bennell, and a testament to the character of Abigail Smith, who worked tirelessly to contact businesses, write letters, and handle the logistics of organizing the supplies for delivery.

“I’m proud of all the students, this is really about them,” said Bennell. “It’s a valuable life experience.”

Bennell said the only previous contact between the towns had occurred a few years back, when the diplomas for New York’s Freeport High had been mistakenly mailed to Freeport High in Maine. Now, thanks to the efforts of students, school faculty and the community at large, Freeport and its namesake in New York will always have a special connection.

“I definitely want to keep in contact. It’s an experience that is hard to forget,” said Bonney.

Freeport High Seniors Sophie Smith, left, and Sarah Bonney display the thank-you cards written by fourth-graders at Gibyln Elementary School in Freeport, N.Y.