When six-year-old Tuxedo Park School student Matthew Belluardo of Mahwah learned that his mother’s orthopedic trauma surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, David Helfet, M.D., had “fixed” his mother’s leg, he decided he didn’t want birthday presents – he wanted his friends to donate instead to Dr. Helfet.

The students and their parents responded by raising $2,000 for the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Haiti Relief Fund because of Dr. Helfet’s efforts in Haiti. In January, Dr. Helfet led a team of doctors and medical personnel to Haiti to aid those impacted by the earthquake on January 15. The students, familiar with the earthquake damage in Haiti, were enthusiastic to help. According to their teacher, Lynne Schroh, “TPS students who forego birthday gifts in favor of charitable donations are admired by their peers for that decision.”

Last Friday, Dr. Helfet and a member of his surgical team who also volunteered in Haiti, Patricia Donohue, NP, visited the first grade class at Tuxedo Park School to thank them for their generous donation. Dr. Helfet and Ms. Donohue gave the class a poster with photos from their trip to Haiti, talked with the students about the significance of their contribution, and answered some of the children’s questions about trauma surgery, prosthetics, and what they like most about their jobs.

According to Tuxedo Park School Headmaster, Jim Burger, “The curriculum at TPS teaches students to learn the meaning and value of courage, honesty, self-discipline, kindness, loyalty, responsibility, and friendship. Clearly, these students are practicing what they have learned, and we are proud of them.”

For more information about Tuxedo Park School, please visit www.tuxedoparkschool.org.

About Tuxedo Park School: One of the oldest schools in the country specializing in pre-secondary education, Tuxedo Park School educates children in grades Pre-K through the Freshman Year of High School who live in Tuxedo Park and the surrounding communities in Orange and Rockland counties in New York and Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey. One-third of the students come from Bergen County. Since 1900, Tuxedo Park School has provided a safe, nurturing educational community where intellectual curiosity, hard work, creativity, integrity, and the joy of learning mark each day. www.tuxedoparkschool.org.