Raiders in Service | Toms River Regional School District

Students from High School East, High School South, and Intermediate South visited the Dominican Republic last month to help build houses for those in need. It proved to be a life-changing experience.

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The following summary was written by High School East student Sal Esposito.

During the week of November 4 through November 11, eighteen Raiders, two Indians and a Seminole went on a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic. The group, named Raiders in Service, worked with “The Village Mountain Mission Project," which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to provide housing, education, and medicine to those in need in the Dominican Republic.

The Raiders in Service separated into two groups to each build a house. One house was for twin brothers and the other was for a family of five. Both families showed nothing but gratitude for the group building the house. The father of the family of five even went to the extent to cook the group a large lunch. Although the group separated into two subgroups, they regrouped at the end of the day and shared some reflections about the day’s work or just the day in general. Many of the students realized at the end of the last work day that the house was not the only thing achieved in the trip. The house was in the forefront of the trip because the families need a place to stay, but the trip was spiritually and mentally cleansing despite the work involved with building the house.

Students saw firsthand how bad some people in the world have it. There was little to no service during the trip so they were talking to each other without a screen. Some students went into the trip with one friend. At the end of the trip, they were family that now share a bond none of them will forget. This trip is for those in need in the Dominican, however it also serves as an eye opening experience for the students involved.

Raiders in Service 2017

Karly Maul

Josemartin Pezo

Kristian Cosme

Mikayla Youngman

Sal Esposito

Iván Rosales

Miraj Jiyani

Diana Cisneros

Jake Ryan

Andrea Morejon

Destinee Vehock