One important aspect of the Global Connections program is to improve the relationship between Americans and Serbians in Kosovo.  To this measure, for the last two
  years, students at Holmdel High School conducted warm clothing drive during the month of November.  Coats and sweaters were collected and mailed to the American military base, Camp Bondsteel.  There, members of the 326th and 131st Mobile Public Affairs Unit distributed the warm clothing to needy families in Kosovo.
 
Kosovo has an antiquated electric power plant, which cannot provide the necessary amounts of power needed to heat each home and building during the winter months.  It is not uncommon for the temperature to plunge to –25 degree during a typical winter in the Balkans.   Blackouts occur at regular intervals, sometimes several times a day.  In rural areas, homes do not have access to electricity.  Thus, there is a real danger of people freezing to death in Kosovo.

"Both Albanian and Serbian people benefited from the clothing drives we held on their behalf," said Mrs. Cerqueira.   "My students were happy to be able to do something tangible to help the people in Kosovo.  There is no doubt that people were more comfortable during the cold winters because of the generosity and hard work of  my students.”