Timberlane Community Works Committee will hold various drives to collect clothing, toys for the holidays and household items for children and their families
Over 100 Timberlane students gave up part of their lunch period or stayed after school to sort and pack up over $15,000 worth of donated items to be sent to Baton Rouge, La.
This Hurricane Katrina relief effort has been organized through the Timberlane PTO Community Works committee, chaired by Timberlane parents Terry Foster and Jamie Sapoch. Also assisting in this effort are Timberlane’s Leo Club and Student Council.
"We have been working on this project since the start of school and are happy that this first phase of the project is finished. It has been truly rewarding to see the incredible out pour of support by our middle school students and their families," said Ms. Foster.
The first phase of the project included the collection of needed items such as toothbrushes, tooth paste, infant supplies and work crew needs including work gloves and cotton socks. These items have been distributed to the Red Cross, Salvation Army shelters, local food banks and directly to cleanup crews. "Work has already begun on the second phase of this project," explained Ms. Sapoch. "We are very excited to have announced the adoption of a middle school from the Gulf Region. We have learned the specific needs of the school and the individual families and are looking to the Timberlane community and the entire Hopewell Valley community to assist us."
The second phase of the Hurricane Relief Project is to assist 350 school children, grades K-eight, who have been evacuated from Louisiana to Texas. The once-closed Houston Texas Elementary School has reopened as their school, which is named New Orleans West or NOW. The families and students of this school were living in the Parrish County area outside of New Orleans. The majority of them were living at or below poverty level prior to the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Most families did not have any insurance, and lost everything they owned.
The school’s Vice Principal Jonathan Birch said most of the children have one or two pairs of shorts and a T-shirt. He said many of the children need shoes, and long pants, long sleeve shirts and jackets for the winter weather of Houston. Mr. Birch also said many of the families are sleeping on cots without pillows or linens, and that families of six own two bath towels.
A former Timberlane and Hopewell Valley Central High School graduate Todd Purvis is working at New Orleans West (NOW) teaching third grade. Mr. Purvis has conveyed through e-mail the devastation these children have witnessed, and attests to the bare minimal lifestyle they are leading right now, in Houston.
The Timberlane Community Works Committee will be holding various drives over the next few weeks to collect clothing, toys for the holidays and household items for these children and their families. They are asking anyone in the Hopewell Valley area who wishes to donate toward this relief effort to make a donation by check, payable to The Timberlane PTO Hurricane Relief, 51 S. Timberlane Drive, Pennington, 08534, or to off new holiday toys or new children’s clothes (sizes 4T to juniors) at Timberlane Middle School’s main office.
"As the holiday season approaches, it is a time of reflection on the year that is passing, a time of being thankful for all we have and a time to look forward to the future. We know that your act of kindness will make a difference in the lives of children who have suffered through poverty and now devastation. Thank you to all for their support," Ms. Foster concluded.

