Hurricane Harvey caused extensive damage to the Little Cypress-Mauriceville school district. When word of this destruction spread rapidly among the nation, supplies began being donated to the district before it was even reopened and have not stopped arriving since. Items have been received daily by airplane, through the mail, and by hand.

Supplies have been donated by schools, individuals, clubs, organizations, and businesses. Some of the donors include: Extreme Tumble and Cheer, DC traveling buddies from Iowa, Warm Up America, Dragon Lady Airboats, Houston Zen Center, KIWANIS, Goodwill Cooperate, Sonic Drive In, a sorority at Texas State, and Keller Williams. Items that have been donated include: school supplies, filing cabinets, clothes, Christmas gifts, books, a subscription to Time for Kids, medical kits, and band instruments.

“The donors are just trying to be good citizens and help other humans who have an obvious need,” LCMCISD Community Relations Coordinator Sherry Combs said. “The amount of donations has been staggering! Maintenance has had to distribute and store tons of boxes of books, school and teacher supplies, personal hygiene items, clothes, and more. They are rapidly running out of room.”

Numerous schools donated supplies to the district, including: Magnolia ISD, Hammond High Magnet School, Rockwall Heath High School, Denton Guyer High School, Simms ISD, Smithton ISD, Audubon Elementary, and Ellicott ISD. Many of the schools that donated to LCM were similar in size or had flooded previously. These schools had one goal on their mind and that was to “pay it forward.” To raise the money for donations, the schools held penny drives, sold t-shirts, had raffles, used athletic event ticket profits, had radio sponsored events or asked their communities for items.

One of the largest deliveries was on Oct. 8 by Riverton High School in Wyoming. The Future Farmers of America of their school decided to reach out to LCM and collect donations to help as many people as they possibly could.

“They brought six or seven tons of alfalfa cubes,” Combs said. “They also brought food, some gently used furniture and clothes, bed linens, school supplies, and an assortment of other items. Just the items that they brought us filled about 3/4 of an 18-wheeler. One of the Future Farmers of America student’s dad owns a trucking company and he bought a trailer just for them to bring in the donations and paid for the driver who brought it down.”

Magnolia ISD has adopted the LCM secondary schools and intends on raising $50,000. To do so, the two schools within Magnolia ISD will play each other in a football game on Oct. 20.

“All proceeds from ‘The Magnolia Bowl’ will be given to LCM,” Combs said. “Denise Meyers, who is leading this fundraiser, has made videos for the school and community, explaining why they want to raise the money for us. You can visit their school website or Facebook page to see some of the videos.”

In addition to Magnolia ISD, The Hammond High Magnet School KEY Club adopted the LCM secondary schools. On Oct. 6, students and staff involved in the club drove from Hammond, Louisiana to hand deliver their donations.

Other KIWANIS organizations donated thousands of dollars in school supplies and items for the nurses’ clinics.

“The Texas-Oklahoma District of KIWANIS International sent over $4,200 worth of school supplies which were mailed directly from Amazon,” LCM High School KEY Club sponsor Woody Cox said.

The athletic department and LCM Student Council received large donations, as well. The Rockwall Heath High School Student Council and football team sent a monetary donation. To raise the money, they sold a special limited-edition t-shirt during lunches and the proceeds were sent to the LCM Student Council. Denton Guyer High School personally delivered a large box truck of sports drinks, and snacks for LCM athletes on Sept. 22.

“Julie Dunn Dalfrey is a teacher at Rockwall Heath High School,” LCM High School Activities Director Stacey Smith said. “Her dad is Justice of the Peace Derry Dunn, a retired LCM principal. Julie is also an LCM graduate. When the student council from Heath was looking for a school to help, Julie directed them to LCM.”

Local businesses have not fallen short with interesting items they are donating. Motiva in Port Arthur is working with a non-profit organization called, “Undies for Everyone.”  They are collecting thousands of pairs of new underwear for the students and staff of LCM. The sizes of underwear they are collecting range from children to men in all colors and styles.

The donations from all over the nation to help the LCM district staff and students have been graciously received and much appreciated.

“We’ve received items from as far away as Yakima, Washington, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and points in between,” Combs said. “I have been amazed and humbled by the thousands of dollars donated worth of supplies that have been given to the students and staff of our district.”