Students, staff send their love

HAMMONDSPORT--Members of a school district, whether it be students, alumni or staff, often refer to the friendships they form as extensions of their family. The Hammondsport "family" showed support for one of their own last Friday, May 31.
Students, teachers and administrators worked together to direct a giant "LOVE" formation on the baseball field at the school in support of Teaching Assistant Donna Sue Kerrick and her husband Jeff.
Earlier this year, Jeff suffered a fall which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Since then, there have been a number of fundraising efforts to help the family as they work through continuing therapy and treatments. A GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/helping-those-who-have-been-there-for-others) page was set up shortly after the accident and currently has $18,475 of the $20,000 goal. There have been some 162 donations to date.
The annual Heart of the Finger Lakes 5K in Dundee at the end of April also had the Kerricks as one of their beneficiaries and donated $3,000 to help with medical bills and other expenses.
At Hammondsport Central School, teacher Rachael McLoud, Ashly Dumbleton and Leah Brown helped organize a school color bandana sale to raise money for Donna Sue and Jeff. After the sale ended last Thursday, the school gathered for a group photo to accompany their donation. The Hammondsport Fire Department provided an aerial view from their ladder truck to see the word "LOVE" spelled out by the members of the district. Organizers expect to present a check for $600 from the bandana sales.
A website has been set up on CaringBridge where the family can provide updates on Jeff's condition, and well-wishers can provide support or comment on the updates. There have been some 4,600 visits already to the site. The link to reach it is https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeffreykerrick.
Donations can still be made on the GoFundMe site at the link in the story.