JCPS Collecting Bottled Water, Donations for Harvey Relief.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS) — Inside the school gym at Fern Creek Elementary School are cases upon cases of bottled water, piled on top of each other, with shoes, shirts and other supplies resting on top of the makeshift wall of bottles, all of which will be going to Texas.
"It’s actually amazing to help someone else out, especially whenever this bad destruction happened down in Texas," Sophia Lane, a 3rd grader at Fern Creek, said.
"They seem to have an enthusiasm and excitement for it," JCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said.
"I think kids want to be in school making a difference."
Pollio said the project began when a former colleague now in Houston sent a message Tuesday asking the school district to help in the relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, a request Pollio said the schools were quick to step up to meet, with students’ families, staff and businesses bringing in hundreds of cases of water along with other supplies.
"Any opportunity we have to do that, we want to capitalize on that, and this is a great feel-good opportunity where everyone feels like they’re making a difference," he said.
"I was just surprised," Annabelle Whitfill, a 3rd grader, said.
"My mom told me about the hurricane, but I didn’t know I was going to be here for it."
"A child sees an opportunity that I can make a difference, whether it’s very small or very big, in someone else’s life that I don’t even know, I think is the type of learning that our kids need to experience and do," he said.