A Lafourche community just south of Lake Des Allemands faced winds and water from Hurricane Ida on August 29.
The community's only school, Bayou Bouef Elementary, had over a foot of water inside.
Levees that have been elevated in recent years, they say, breached, and teachers from the neighboring community of Chackbay decided there was something they had to do.
"I saw pictures of what the school looked like and felt bad for the students, but also for the teachers," said Tiffany Thibodaux, a Chackbay Elementary teacher, whose several coworkers live in the Bayou Bouef community. "I know how much money we put into getting our rooms ready for the school year."
Thibodaux began her supply drive with the help of a friend, an old co-worker, Erica Richard, and a Facebook post.
"I made apost on Facebook and before I knew it, it blew up! Our goals was to help one school, Bayou Boeuf, but after the response, I'm hoping we can help all the schools in lower Lafourche," she said.
Erica Richard, a Thibodaux Elementary teacher, has created an Amazon Wishlist for those who want to contribute. Now, they can easily access items to donate from the web, without worrying about shipping.
"We’re collecting monetary donations, which we plan on using to give directly to the staff members to redo their classrooms. We also created an Amazon wishlist, at the request of out-of-state organizations trying to help out," she said.
Katie Vicknair, a paraprofessional from Chackbay Elementary, sold shirts for the event and is amazed by the help from the community.
"Lafourche is a strong parish; I love seeing our community come together in a time of need," Vicknair said.
As they plan for their event on Saturday, they hope parents will have one less thing to worry about, school supplies.
Items needed are:
- school uniforms (white or royal shirts and khaki bottoms)
- teacher school supplies
- student school supplies
- Walmart/Amazon gift cards
The event will take place from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. at the old Chackbay Firestation (by the ballpark), they say.
To donate to the school supply drive, donors can send donations to Erica-Richard-11 on Venmo or ericaleray@msn.com on Paypal, donate through the Amazon Wishlist, click here, or bring donations to the Bayou Boeuf Volunteer Fire Department at 3457 HWY 307 in Thibodaux.
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