SCHOOL DONATES 24 HYGIENE KITS, $1,000 TO VETERANS HOME IN NEW LONDON MYSTIC AQUARIUM ANIMAL RESCUE TEAM KICKS OFF SUMMER TOUR ON SATURDAY

Waterford — Clark Lane Middle School presented a $1,000 donation and 24 hygiene kits for the New London Homeless Hospitality Center’s Veteran Transitional Housing Program-GPD Project Home.

Students took part in a schoolwide walkathon organized by the eighth-grade math department on Memorial Day weekend and raised money for several organizations, including NLHHC Project Home, which provides transitional housing for veterans who are struggling with mental health, substance abuse issues, unemployment or chronic homelessness.

The program helps residents with finding a job, accessing veteran’s services, benefits, treatment and permanent housing.

Each hygiene kit donated included shampoo, soap, razors, shaving cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and a $10 gift card to Stop & Shop, as well as a handwritten thank you note from the students, each expressing

Mystic — Mystic Aquarium will kick off its summer effort to raise awareness about its Animal Rescue Program this summer, with appearances at three area beaches on Saturday.

Members of the Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Team, which include staff and volunteers, plan to travel 45 miles of Connecticut and Rhode Island coastline this summer to educate beach-goers and the local community about native marine animals, the team’s work in rescue and rehabilitation and the public’s role in the process.

On Saturday they will be at Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown, R.I., from 9 a.m. to noon, Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly from 2 to 4 p.m.

Additional dates and locations for the tour will be announced as they are confirmed.