Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

What students, schools, and universities are doing to assist with Katrina relief, organized by State.

Email us with any ideas or stories on what your students are doing in regards to the relief effort.

Ohio
Defiance City School District
The Defiance City School District and the Volunteer Connection for Defiance County have seen an outpouring of support for those devasted by the hurricane. The Defiance High School football team and coaches traveled through 4 elementary schools, the middle school, and Defiance Junior High collecting money from students, faculty, and staff, for Hurricane Katrina relief. In one short day, the team collected over $2,734.06 for the American Red Cross's efforts. The money was given to a Red Cross representative at the home football game on the evening of September 2nd before a crowd of over 6,000 people. At the football game, additional money was raised from the crowd. Defiance schools also participated in a food drive in conjunction with the fire department of Defiance City. As a result of the efforts, 13 pallets of food, water and supplies were sent to the victims of hurricane Katrina. The truck left Sept. 9th, and will pick up additional supplies in Waterville Ohio before heading to a relief shelter in Tennessee. This effort was spearheaded by a former student, Mr. Nate Nally. And lastly, the Student Council at Tinora High School in rural Defiance will be collecting water and blankets to ship through the Defiance District United Methodist Church to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Cash donations will be collected as well and will benefit the Points of Light Foundation's Hurricane Relief Efforts.

North Carolina
Davidson Elementary
Davidson Elementary has had several different groups of students out raising money through lemonade stands, selling chocolate, or just door to door soliciting. The best story, however, is the little first grade boy who brought in a shiny new penny that his grandmother had given him. He wanted that very special penny go to help the hurricane victims. Through the goodness of our staff, students and parents we collected $14,020 which will be matched by the local Lowes for a grand total of $28,040.

South Carolina
State-wide Schools
SC schools are welcoming students displaced by the hurricane. They require no proof of residency, birth certificates, immunization or school records. They are entitled to free lunch and will be transported by the school districts.

Anderson
Wren Schools organized a non-perishable food drive and collected money for victims. New students displaced by the hurricane will receive $150 gift certificates to purchase school supplies and clothing.

Berkeley
Several schools are coordinating a bookbag project to collect school supplies for Gulf Coast students. Faculty and staff from Hanahan High collected $700 for one young man who was still wearing clothes from the day of the hurricane.

Charleston
We, at Brentwood Middle School, are currently doing a service learning project that the whole school is involved in. The students are collecting toiletry items to be donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Across the curriculum, we are doing activities surrounding our donations. For example, math classes will be plotting hurricanes on the hurricane maps that the local television station donated; they will also be making graphs and tallying the items that we collect. English language arts classes will be writing newspaper articles and journal entries related to the hurricane; social studies classes will be studying the effects of the storm on the economy as well as race relations; and science classes will be discussing the weather and how hurricanes form. Even our special areas are getting involved. Art classes are decorating the boxes for the toiletry items and our music class is studying the musical influence of New Orleans.

City Year Columbia
This organization will be sending about 20 AmeriCorps members to USC Naval Reserve (evacuee processing center) to escort evacuees and help meet their needs. The site coordinated donations of dozens of tables, chairs and safety mats for a children's play area.

Greenville
All schools are collecting money for the Red Cross. Some are also collecting toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, canned goods, etc. Plans have been made to accommodate 240 students at five high schools in the district.

Pickens
AR Lewis is collecting canned dog and cat food and other pet supplies. They have also found a pilot to take the pet supplies to the hardest hit areas. Students are collecting money to send a girl from New Orleans high school on an Advanced Biology trip.

Richland School District 2
Anna Boyd
Read Socrates to the class. The story is about a dog that is homeless and lives in a cardboard box. He finally finds a friend that takes him home with him to live. We used this story to begin talking about the people that were left homeless by hurricane Katrina and how we could help. It was decided that we would start a Socks for Socrates campaign to raise money to send to the Red Cross for clothes and food for the homeless children and their families.

Bethel-Hanberry
On Monday, September 12th we will begin "Age Aid." This is our school's effort to raise funds to donate to the American Red Cross to assist the hurricane survivors/victims. Each day we are asking our students and staff to bring their age in some denomination of money. For example, a student that is 7 can bring 7 pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollars. Each day they bring their age in any denomination they get to wear a hat of their choice that day. We are also going to offer our parents a chance to make donations in a large hat that will be located in our car rider line.

Blythewood Academy (Alternative Program)
Raffled off two five-layered cakes and held a bake sale. Set up a table for parents as they bring their children to school selling pastries, donuts, coffee, juice, etc. Lead, Learn and Serve service-learning students assembled candy bags to sell during the bake sale. They did comparative cost analysis to determine size and cost of candy bags to bring best price. We hope to be able to host a relocated family for at least a month. While they are here, we hope to be able to help them with things like finding a job and housing. So far, we have raised almost $450.

Blythewood High
The Freshman Class will sponsor a toiletries drive. Third period classes will begin the "I've Got Your Back" project. Each third period class is asked to purchase one book bag and fill it with items from the project list.

Blythewood Middle
We have been collecting money for the Red Cross by activities such as a Hat Day and collection in carpool. We will donate proceeds to the American Red Cross. In two days, we have raised $2500 so far.

Bookman Road
Ten-day campaign going called "Hundreds will Help". We are asking hundreds to help us raise $100 a day for ten days. We are in our third day. The first day we raised about $500, the second day $900 and on the third day, $452.

Center for Achievement
The Center for Achievement at Keels is hosting a Carwash.

CFI
The Center has decided to assist 25 families (about 100 people) who have been relocated from New Orleans to the Carolinian Hotel.

CFK
We are helping the Core Knowledge school in New Orleans . We are currently helping some of their displaced families who need home-school materials.

Clemson Road Child Development
Clemson Road Child Development Center collected $238.84 this week for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Donations were accepted as students and their parents arrived at school each morning. In addition, individual classes are working on class projects to raise additional money, which will be donated to the American Red Cross.

Conder
Second grade is collecting money and the Boys/Girls after school program is collecting money as well.

Forest Lake
Forest Lake is currently holding two relief drives. The first is raising money to donate to the American Red Cross for the victims of Katrina. The second is that we are collecting toiletries to be shipped to Woodlong Baptist Church, a shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that is housing four to five thousand victims. So far we have collected enough toiletries to make two separate shipments this week.

Keels
We have contacted all motels in the area receiving students that will come to us. We have stuffed bookbags with supplies, handbooks, counselor info, a welcome letter, notes from students, stickers, Keels pencils. Each child will receive a bookbag and hopefully each family will receive a plate of cookies when bookbags are delivered to respective motels. Many teachers are collecting money and donating supplies of their own. Kids are having a read-a-thon to collect money.

Kelly Mill
Kelly Mill Middle School is conducting a Wave of Relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Students, parents, and staff are collecting money which will be donated to the American Red Cross. Kelly Mill Middle School is also collecting school supplies from our new students who come to us for the Gulf Coast.

Lake Carolina
We are collecting money for the Red Cross with students putting the money in a box every day. We are collecting underwear and socks for Senator Clyburns charity drive. Second grade has adopted Tiffiney Potter's brother who is a deputy in one of the hardest hit areas. They are sending out flyers regarding special requests to second graders only but anyone can participate. Our Vice Principal Mr. Jeffcoat's church is hosting evacuee families, and we will try to help them when they start arriving.

Nelson
Students, parents, teachers and staff have generously given to help our neighbors along the Gulf Coast . We have collected approximately $600.00 (so far) for the American Red Cross. The students have enjoyed Dollar Fun(d) Days as a reminder to share with others. The American Red Cross is very appreciative of our efforts. If students bring a dollar, they get to wear different things every day next week. Teachers and staff can wear jeans (on Friday) if they bring $5.00.

North Springs
We raised $4000 with a Red, White and Blue Day change drive, and every second grade class made a "wishes quilt" for a family. While tying the blankets, students made wishes for the children. The classes will be donating these blankets to children who have been evacuated to Columbia.

Pontiac
Student Council is collecting items that can fit in Ziploc bags, such as coloring books, crayons, markers, small toys, books, toiletries, etc. for the children of the disaster. The Ziploc bags filled with these items will be sent with the SCE&G crews headed down to the Gulf area.

Rice Creek
Collecting pennies, dollars and checks from students, staff, families and community members to contribute to the Red Cross. Faculty and Staff are participating in a $5 Jeans Day. Several of our classes and the cafeteria staff held a bake sale today (muffins and goodies). We collected flood buckets, hygiene kits, bottled water and money. We are now starting to concentrate on the evacuees who have ended up in South Carolina. We are now collecting school supplies, clothing, and canned goods.

Round Top
RTE is collecting spare change for victims and we are also donating clothing and shoes through a parent.

Spring Valley
Student Government, Interact Club, ROTC and the Homecoming Contestants collected "Coins for Katrina". During half-time at the homecoming football game the money will be presented to the Red Cross. They will continue to collect money to help any students who enroll at Spring Valley . We have had one student enroll from New Orleans and Student Council provided him with clothes and school supplies. The Interact Club gave him a Wal-Mart card to purchase whatever he needed. We are in the process of learning what the family needs are and will try to provide assistance to them through faculty donations, etc.

Summit Parkway
Our faculty has begun making monetary donations to the Red Cross, and at the same time collecting hygiene products, bottled water, and baby diapers for the Salvation Army. Teachers are bringing in slightly-used or new book bags for the refugees enrolling at our school. Pencil pouches with highlighters, crayons, markers, pencil sharpeners, index cards, etc. are being packaged up for the new arrivals to our campus. Student council representatives are gearing up for their first meeting to rally support and discuss proposal options and the implementation of them.

Windsor
We are having a "Crazy hat" day where the children are asked to bring a $1.00 and wear their hat. It's also Grandparents' Day tomorrow, so we've invited our grandparents to wear one of their favorite hats - and yes, we're going to ask them for a donation, too! Our donation will be presented to the Red Cross. We have two families already in our school from New Orleans and the PTA will be helping us with making sure they have what they need.

Wright
We are filling a 15 foot truck with the following: water, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, clothes, and games for children to send to our friends in need further south. Leadership at Wright is holding a garage sale with the proceeds going to the relief efforts. We have collected approximately $2000.00 so far.

District Office/Support Service Center
Selling Belk and Parisian discount cards; Spirit Days on Fridays

Sumter
Cherryvale Elementary participated in Flight of the Falcons, a program that saves loose change to help the victims. All of the change was put in small plastic eggs and placed in a large falcons nest in the school's gym. The school raised $1,640.36. Other schools are holding various fundraisers as well. They are also bringing in supplies to fill shoeboxes for victims.

Texas
American Youthworks
We are enrolling students from New Orleans (I believe three so far). Our health class is doing a drive for school supplies for children entering school.

Austin ALC
My students are making two magnetic interactive hurricane tracking charts, and are going to be putting together packets of school supplies to give to incoming students (after we get the grant, which is a Meadows Foundation Charitable Schools grant). We got a grant from the Junior League to interview elderly people and chronicle their stories, and we will find people from New Orleans to interview. We will audio tape, make scrapbooks and videotape them.

Bryan
Bryan Independent School District is having each student go through an interview with a designated survivor on each campus. The purpose of this interview is to find out what the student and his or her family needs. Through this process, our school district (parents, students, and teachers) has provided housing, furniture, clothes, toys, toiletry items, cars, dental care, health care, gymnastics lessons, and so on. We also provide them with a goody bag that includes a school t-shirt, a football spirit shirt, coupons and gift cards to area restaurants and entertainment places. Clubs and PTSO have provided backpacks and school supplies. School-wide drives include clothing, food, toiletry items. Some classes are making blankets for the shelters.

Florence
Our entire district has collected funds to be donated to the Red Cross. Each campus has a different sponsor that has been responsible. We also as a staff have donated funds to a local nurse so that she could donate a week off of work and we have all been asked to volunteer to baby-sit at the convention center in Austin.

Kopperl
We have been very busy. We delivered a large number of donated items to the Crisis Center in Cleburne on Monday.

Midlothian
Our two middle schools are having a contest to see which school can raise the most money. ($5000+ so far ) The school that wins will get to have the "losing" principals at a dunking booth for the football game when the schools play each other. The technology classes designed the activity and are learning to make flyers using their results in desktop publishing. Reflective writing is also being done. We had ten evacuee students at one middle school who were housed at a local Salvation Army camp. We provided clothes and school supplies for them through donations. All Future Problem Solving Students around the entire state and other states as well as counties are studying climate change/climate threat as one of our problem-solving topics.

Region 5
Our Region 5 activities for helping Katrina evacuee students:

1. Teamed-up with Manning's School and Office Supplies: Manning's contacted their major distributors along the east coast of US and asked for donations of basic school supplies. Two huge truckloads have arrived here at Region 5.
2. Longfellow Elementary in the state of Iowa contacted Manning's and Region 5 concerning the evacuees' needs. The students at Longfellow Elem. have bought and filled 250 backpacks with supplies. The parents of the elementary students in Iowa have purchased Wal-Mart Gift Cards for the parents of our evacuee students.

Rio Hondo DAEP
The only activity our students have done for hurricane Katrina is collect bottled water. This was taken to the local paper's place of business where it was loaded up in a semi-trailer bound for New Orleans. Approximately 30 cases of bottled water were collected in addition to donated used clothing.

Shallowater
Our three schools - intermediate, elementary, and high school had penny wars. Younger students counted the change and we ended up with $600. We have applied for a local $500 grant and with this building block of financial support will adopt a Louisiana family who have decided to reside permanently in our area. There are 22 members of this extended family. We are having a panel consisting of students, community members, and evacuees who will discuss the differences and similarities they have encountered with East Texas culture. This will be done with the media classes, journalism classes, and speech classes. The consumer science classes will have a community Cajun dinner where we will have entertainment typical of East Texas and Louisiana. The panel is being planned as I am writing this, and the dinner is in the works. Our theater department is doing a play called Just Before Sleep about homelessness. We are hoping to do this with the Salvation Army before the holidays and collect canned food for the food bank as tickets.

Sulphur Springs
Believe it or not Sulphur Springs Independent School District has had 60 new students due to Katrina. That may not sound like many in relation to the influx in Austin and Houston. However, it is the most in the Region VIII ESC area. The students have been at a shelter for the past two weeks and are moving into new housing. Students have adopted children and families, collected funds, provided new clothing and school supplies. The new students are being incorporated into the service-learning grants. However new grants focusing on relief efforts have not been implemented at this time. Mini-applications for service-learning related to this effort are being reviewed at this time.

Vermont
Champlain College
Students at Champlain College, however, hope to sustain their fund-raising relief efforts for months. Sophomores and seniors in Elaine Young's marketing class unanimously agreed to toss the entire fall semester curriculum in favor of building their class around ways to aid Katrina victims and the less fortunate closer to home.
(Link to story)

Wisconsin
Green Bay
Green Bay Area Public Schools and the Volunteer Center Inc., of Brown County are supporting students in several Hurricane Katrina response related activities. Students will be involved in a concert featuring local student bands called "Rock for a Reason." The proceeds will be donated to the hurricane relief efforts. Students in the culinary arts classes are planning to do a cabaret-type fundraising event. The early childhood and Head Start classes are planning to "adopt" a Head Start teacher from a hurricane-affected area to see if they can provide any help toward unmet needs.