Tennessee School Districts Organize School Supply Drive for Texas Students
September 1, 2017
Please note: This article was originally published on 9/1/2017. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year.
School superintendents and their school districts across the State of Tennessee are joining forces to help their fellow superintendents and districts in the State of Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey. Members of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, TOSS, have announced that they will be participating in a school supply drive, known as Tennessee Volunteers For Texas, to provide new school supplies and money for the students in hurricane ravaged areas.
TOSS Executive Director Dale Lynch said that school districts across Tennessee reached out to him for ways to help.
Williamson County Schools in Franklin is working with Williamson County Government to provide a collection site. The districts will be collecting only new items in their original form. Those items include back packs, college or standard ruled paper, #2 pencils, scissors, glue and crayons. School buses are also being accepted, and Lynch said that several school districts are working to donate one or more surplus buses to school districts in Texas.
Beginning Saturday, Sept. 2, school supply donations may be delivered to the Williamson County Agriculture Center, in care of BE NICE, 4215 Long Lane, Franklin, TN 37064. Monetary donations may be made through the Community Foundation website at www.cfmt.org/williamson-gives.
Othere ways to help include:
DONATE TO THE HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is accepting donations of clothes (all sizes), school supplies and money to help students and families impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Nearly 50 HISD schools have been flooded to some degree, other schools are being used as shelters and a growing number of students and families have left their homes behind.
If you’d like to donate items, please send them to:
Mark Smith
Delmar Stadium
2020 Mangum
Houston, TX 77092
http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/164281
UNITED WAY WORLDWIDE
United Way Worldwide has established a national relief fund where 100% of funds donated will go directly to the communities affected by the hurricane. As a side note, unless there are specific requests, monetary donations tend to be the most helpful as other items require sorting, storage, etc., which may or may not be available. The other tricky factor is that the impact of the storm is still not fully felt. We won’t know the full impact for days to come which makes the usefulness of donated items, unless requested, precarious. For anyone desiring to make a monetary donation, Here is a link to United Way Worldwide below.
https://www.unitedway.org/hurricane-harvey
Or any of these organizations:
AMERICAN RED CROSS
To donate visit redcross.org, call 1- 800-RED CROSS or text the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
THE SALVATION ARMY
To donate visit www.helpsalvationarmy.org or call 1-800-725-2769.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA
Visit catholiccharitiesusa.org to donate.
GLOBALGIVING
Visit https://www.globalgiving.org/harvey. Donors can also text HARVEY to 80100 to donate $10 to GlobalGiving’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. Message and data rates may apply. Terms: hmgf.org/t. Send a check by writing,”Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund” in the memo line and mailing it to GlobalGiving, 1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 550, Washington DC, 20005.
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Visit www.savethechildren.org. Save the Children’s emergency response team is on the ground in San Antonio, Texas, working to meet children and families’ immediate needs
APPLE
The multimedia giant has set up a donation link directly on iTunes and App Store. Visit www.apple.com for more information. Donations will go directly to the American Red Cross.
HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF FUND
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner established this fund administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation to accept tax-deductible flood-relief donations. Checks and money orders can be mailed to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, while online credit card donations can be made at www.ghcf.org. Online credit card donations will be assessed a small fee by the credit card companies. Donors have the option of increasing their credit card donations to cover this fee. Wire-transferred cash will also be accepted.