Newman Mobilizes for Hurricane Relief

In the weeks since Hurricane Harvey, a great number of Newman families, students, and alumni have been meaningfully engaged in recovery efforts. To focus school-wide efforts, Newman partnered with SBP (formerly the St. Bernard Project) to support their long-term recovery efforts in Houston and Southwest Louisiana. We are grateful to be part of a generous, compassionate, and supportive community.

 

SBP has deployed staff and volunteers to the affected areas, and our Newman efforts have sent several truck-loads of supplies to begin the process of gutting houses. Liz McCartney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of SBP, has spoken with our students at assemblies in the Lower, Middle, and Upper School divisions about recovery work and the power of students to make a difference.

 

Since the announcement of our partnership with SBP, our student and faculty service-leadership groups have been hard at work devising plans for each division to contribute to the effort in a meaningful way. We have included information about their efforts below.

 

Newman’s Upper School students took a leadership role in collecting and sorting donations needed for gutting houses. The students used an Amazon wish list to solicit donations and have them shipped directly to the School, while some families brought in donations to a collection point. Help poured in by the crate-load. Shovels, hard hats, mops, gloves, pry-bars, cleaning liquid, wheelbarrows, and more filled Krohn Foyer to be sorted and delivered to our partner. From there, students loaded three trucks full of gear, which will be delivered and distributed to volunteer teams in the field.

 

Students on the ACTIONS Committee are also planning a volunteer trip to Houston. Student, faculty, and staff volunteers will travel to Houston to work with SBP and help with rebuilding efforts from October 21-25. A generous donation of $5,000 from Britton Sanderford and family will be used to fund the trip and help our students meaningfully engage in a hands-on way in the recovery efforts. Students wishing to volunteer are asked to submit a short application via email by Wednesday, September 27.

 

Newman Middle School students chose two ways to support SBP. The first was a $1 Dress Down Day on Friday, September 15. The students also planned and staffed a lemonade stand and bake sale at Danneel Park the following Saturday. Waving colorful signs on the street corner and in the St. Charles neutral ground, Middle School volunteers directed passing cars and passersby to a table laden with cookies, brownies, doughnuts, cupcakes, lemonade, and crafts. The Middle School volunteer group is still selling string bracelets from Sarah Ott New Orleans (view bracelet designs here) the proceeds from which will be sent to SBP. Please email 7th Grade Dean Michael Milling to order one of the $10 bracelets before Friday, September 29. The Middle School Difference Committee will be announcing the grand total raised by their efforts during an assembly next week!

 

Led by the fifth grade class leaders, Lower School students also coordinated to collect gear and raise money for the hurricane relief effort. The students set up and decorated donation boxes all around the Lower School, and parents were also invited to purchase supplies online through the Amazon wish list. The division also held a Dress Down Day to raise money for more equipment. An outpouring of support from Lower school families contributed greatly to the equipment that the Uppers Schoolers have delivered, and the Dress Down Day brought in a whopping $1,553.

 

Rather than concentrating on disaster and relief with our youngest students at Green Trees and Pre-K classes, the faculty instead began work on a very special, age-appropriate project. Students will spend time exploring the ideas of home, love, and family through dramatic play, construction, storytelling, and visual arts, with the ultimate goal of creating a book that can be shared with children in Hurricane-affected areas. Families were also encouraged to participate in any of the efforts listed above.

 

The community service organizers are still looking for donations of much needed items, including Concrobium Mold Control Jugs, Tyvek Coverall Suits with Hood and Boots (sizes XL and XXL), 3M P100 Mold and Lead Paint Removal Respirators and 3M P100 Mold and Lead Respirator Filters. Participating families are asked to bring them in to any division office or have them shipped to the School.

 

Our students are also understandably concerned about those affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which have caused and are continuing to cause significant damage to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida, and we are in the process of deciding how we can be most helpful. If you have any questions about community service projects, please contact Community Service Organizer Kim Causey at KimCausey@newmanschool.org.