HOBOKEN – The Hoboken School District will receive a portion of a $4.5 million donation to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund from the people of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country in the Persian Gulf region that has grown to become one of the world’s richest due to its oil reserves.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Board of Education President Leon Gold attended a ceremony at Highlands Elementary School in Trenton on Monday morning, where they met and thanked UAE’s ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba.
“We are very thankful to the UAE Embassy for the generous donation that will help improve technology in our schools,” said Gold in a statement.
The donation was made to the Sandy relief fund in an effort to bolster technology in schools that had been damaged by the storm. The district will use the money to increase internet bandwidth capacity, wiring and hardware for instructional areas, and acquisition of mobile computing devices for faculty and students, according to a press release from the city.
Hoboken High School, Joseph F. Brandt School, Salvatore R. Calabro School, Thomas G. Connors School, and Wallace Elementary School will all benefit from the funds.
Hoboken is one of nine districts around the state which will benefit from the donation. The relief fund, which was founded by New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie in the aftermath of last year’s storm, has so far raised about $38 million, according to a report on NJ.com.
“On behalf of the City of Hoboken, I thank Governor Chris Christie, First Lady Mary Pat Christie, and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund for their support as we continue to rebuild our community,” said Zimmer.
The Washington Post reported in February that the UAE had pledged $5 million to New Jersey in the wake of the storm. A similar gift has been granted to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to assist Sandy relief in the Rockaways and other affected areas.
According to the Post, the UAE has done substantial humanitarian work in the United States, previously donating to relief funds in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011, and building soccer fields in low-income neighborhoods in New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles. – Dean DeChiaro
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