Hoosier Road Elementary Collects Donations for Hurricane Harvey Victims
Writer / Matt Keating
Photographer / Brian Brosmer
Hoosier Road Elementary, Fishers, recently came through in a big way for Braeburn Elementary, a public school in Houston, Texas, hit by Hurricane Harvey.
Hoosier Road Elementary (HRE) collected a large variety of materials the school desperately needs.
Students and staff at Braeburn Elementary, which has students from Pre-K through 5th grade, had to relocate to an abandoned high school building and were in need of supplies for an elementary school setting.
So, HRE packed a semi-truck filled with supplies to help students and staff at Braeburn in their time of need.
Wendi Washburn, a fourth-grade teacher at HRE, says the students in her class were eager to help other kids get back to school.
“They really were motivated to help other people who were hurt by Hurricane Harvey and wanted to do something to help other kids and teachers,” Washburn says. “They went to work to get the supplies they needed.”
Among other things, the school needed a lot of outdoor recess equipment, including basketballs, kick balls, hula hoops, chalk, frisbees, bubbles, etc. The abandoned high school they are currently located at does not have a playground.
Parker Skwarcan, a fourth-grader at HRE, says a lot of the kids at Braeburn Elementary used to be able to walk to school, but now they have to travel a long distance to get to their new facility.
“They really need school supplies,” he says.
Binders, folders, copy paper, pencil and opens were recently donated by the Fishers community and dropped off at HSE.
Drew Babb, another fourth-grader at HRE, says the donations to Braeburn also included teacher school supplies. They included dry-erase markers, stickers, post-it notes, sharpies and other teacher supplies.
Freezer and sandwich bags were also needed, as well as staplers, hand sanitizers, blankets and backpacks.
Washburn noted that HSE also collected “fun seating” for classroom libraries: bean bag chairs, small furniture, floor-pillows, etc. Floor rugs, markers and crayons, loose leaf paper and notebooks, scissors, board games and classroom décor were also donated.
“We also collected more than 800 toothbrushes,” Babb says. “There were a lot of blankets dropped off too.”
Other personal supplies included toothpaste, hygiene items, undergarments for children, socks and shoes for children, navy khaki-fabric pants (school uniform bottoms), and navy or white polo style shorts.
Other shirts, pants and school-appropriate jeans were donated. Professional dress items for the impacted staff at Braeburn were also donated.
Most of the donations were dropped off at HRE during school hours Sept. 22-23.
“FitzMark Inc. handled the truck deliveries,” Washburn says.
At least six other elementary schools in the district also collected donations to assist with HRE’s efforts.
Hamilton Southeastern High School also adopted a school in need located in Katy, Texas, which was also badly hit by Hurricane Harvey.
David Brammer, Indianapolis, says he dropped off several school supplies and clothing items at the school during the Saturday drop-off and says he was overwhelmed to see such an outpouring of support from people.
“It’s great to see Hoosiers rising to the occasion and doing something positive to help kids and teachers,” Brammer says. “I think we really need that right now. It was nice to see kids really wanting to help other children in Texas.”
HRE students and staff loaded the supplies and sent the truck off on Sept. 25.
“We were able to fill up 26 pallets with supplies,” Washburn says. “Everyone did a great job.”
