Creek to Creek Supply Drive Donates Over 900 Backpacks for Hurricane Relief

Hurricane Harvey, a category four storm, hit landfall in Texas on Aug. 25, 2017, becoming the first major hurricane to strike the region in over 50 years. Harvey caused over $75 billion in damages, and thousands of Texan citizens were placed in temporary shelters, having to be rescued from their homes by boat.

In response, Timber Creek adopted Houston high school, Mayde Creek, and started a supply drive in hopes to replenish supplies lost in the flooding, not just for the school, but the surrounding community. Over 900 backpacks were donated, each filled with four folders, three spiral notebooks, one composition notebook, a three-ring binder, file folders, a pack of ruled paper, pens, pencils, highlighters and the occasional water bottle.

“We got the idea when all of the Hurricane Harvey footage started coming in on TV, and a lot of overwhelming emotions happened,” said English II teacher, Jamie Bird. “I texted my colleagues and I said ‘hey guys, I have this trailer, what do you want to do, because we have to do something, who wants to help?’ and the idea just spiraled from there.”

Bird then states that the reason for a school supply drive, rather than a general supply drive, is because in her words, “Initial efforts will be immediate, but who’s going to be there six weeks later to take care of the kids when they have to go back to school?”

On the morning of Sept. 23, a clan of approximately 20 students, and staff members congregated at the front of Timber Creek, loaded bags and boxes, grabbed a brief breakfast and headed off to Houston in what would end up being a five-hour bus ride.

Upon arriving at Mayde Creek around 2 p.m., Timber Creek Principal Donnie Bartlett and Mayde Creek Principal Ronnie Edwards exchanged greetings and Timber volunteers were given a brief tour of the school. After snapping a few photos, the two Creeks joined together in unloading boxes and backpacks from the chain of buses outside of the school.

“In our area of Mayde Creek, we usually have a few issues when it rains, like road closures and stuff, but we definitely weren’t expecting this,” said Edwards. “We knew we wanted to do something [to help], so we started a community Amazon wishlist to try and help our kids.” Edwards continues, “by the end we got up $100,000 worth of items.”

According to Mayde’s principal, this was around the time when Timber Creek English III teacher, Cathy Reeves, contacted him about being willing to help. Reeves formerly taught at Mayde Creek and immediately reached out.

“It was really touching that it was coming from a former Mayde Creek person, and I thought it was really neat that it was Timber Creek. I see how much work [the volunteers] did to help our kids get back to normal,” Edwards said. “It’s one thing when you see pictures on TV, but when you’re here and experiencing kids who didn’t have shoes, didn’t have school supplies, or didn’t know where they were going to go, it’s really tough. It’s nice to see there are people out there willing to help. It’s really inspiring, and it restores our faith in everything that is good in Texas and in the world.”

See photos from the Creek to Creek supply drive, loading and transport of the supplies, and the impacted area around Mayde Creek below: