Former Cy-Fair educator sends truckload of school supplies to help Harvey victims
CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- To help students impacted by Hurricane Harvey, a truckload of goods was delivered to Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District thanks to a former employee.
On Thursday, the items arrived at Holbrook Elementary School.
The donation was delivered from more than 1,100 miles away. One of the people behind it knows the school well.
Charlene McKay worked in Cy-Fair, and kept in touch with a teacher at Holbrook Elementary.
"I mean, they're going through trauma beyond belief," McKay said via Skype. She's an elementary school teacher now in Indiana, and felt helpless as Harvey hit.
"We had friends who lost their house," McKay said. "Friends whose animals were displaced. It was horrifying."
To help, her Indiana district, School City of Mishawaka, held drives and stuffed a truck full of nearly 3,300 pounds of goods.
The Indiana students filled more than 120 boxes of goods, including notepads, markers, glue, and plenty of backpacks.
"If it's going to help somebody get a new Polly Pocket binder, or a super hero backpack, gosh, that's the least we could do," McKay said.
It wasn't just supplies, but videos too.
ABC13 was there as Holbrook Elementary students watched clips, and recorded answers to send back.
"My question is, did any pets die? I don't know," one Holbrook third grader said.
"My question was, how high was the water? The water was up to my knee," another Holbrook Elementary student said.
An unexpected assignment that touched Holbrook educators.
"The storm was so devastating for so many families, it was nice to have something like this uplift our families and our students," Holbrook Elementary School librarian Melinda Aviles said.
A sense of accomplishment for an Indiana teacher who believes the lessons learned will extend well after the supplies run out.
"That's why you do it," McKay said. For those ah-ha moments. The lightbulb goes on and you made that connection. That's why I teach."
