Dear Friends,
Melinda and I are teachers in the Pearland area of Houston, Texas, which received between 45 and 59(!!!) inches of rain this week depending on who you ask. We both were very fortunate not to have water in our homes, but we know many teachers and staff in the local schools who were not quite as lucky.
Even though the local school districts will of course be very understanding for teachers who are displaced due to flooding, this is an extremely stressful time for everyone. Our friends have to clean up a huge mess, figure out living arrangements, and at some point, figure out how to get back to work in the middle of it all. As of right now, we are supposed to report back to work on Tuesday after Labor Day.
WHAT IF... each of our flooded-out colleagues could receive a "flood of friendship" in the form of gift cards for gas, restaurants, home improvement, and groceries when they do come back to school?
If you want to make a more personal connection with your donations, if you were wondering if a small donation could make a difference, the answer is YES, YES you can make a big difference and warm someone's heart.
Here is what you can do right now to help:
Pledge a gift card for one of the 75 families in need that we have on our list.
At this time, we are accepting no new nominations.
If donations exceed the needs of these 75 families, we will reopen the nomination page!
Pledge Here! (UPDATE 9/4: We have made the signup easier to navigate due to the large number of families we have learned about. There are 75 affected families that we know about at this time. We have over 100 gift cards currently pledged! WOW!!!)
3) EASIEST OPTION: Just shop for Lowe's or restaurant cards on Amazon!
Or shop for HEB cards at HEB.com,
Home Depot cards at HomeDepot.com,
or Walmart cards at Walmart.com!
You can send them electronically to melinda.leboeuf@gmail.com. We promise we will get all of this to the right place!OR, snail mail option... Once you have purchased your card, send it to "Flood of Friendship c/o Melinda LeBoeuf, 3511 Apple Grove Dr, Manvel, TX 77578" Once the gift card package for the family you've donated to is complete, we'll take a photo of the awesomeness you've helped make possible and email it to you.
Let's start an amazing flood of friendship! We're doing this completely on our own, and this little project is not connected with Alvin ISD in any way. So if it gets big, be patient with us :)
Thanks for your consideration!
Melinda LeBoeuf and Meredith Mooney, teachers, Dr. James "Red" Duke Elementary
Can we drop off the gift card at the address above?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how far behind the post office is.
Thank you!
Please text when you are coming by to drop off gift cards. My cell phone is 713-416-1504
DeleteMeredith and Melinda, I think you ladies are amazing . . . exactly the kind of humans and Houstonians, the world needs more of. Bless you, and Bless TX. #houstonstrong
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words and for your generous donation!
DeleteWould you all be interested in partnering with Give More HUGS for our HUG-A-Classroom project? Visit www.givemorehugs.org/tx-strong. E-mail admin@givemorehugs.org. if you have any questions. This is an awesome project! Great work!!! Praying for all of those affected.
ReplyDeleteHello! I am so happy that I found this on FB. I received gift cards from some of you that donated. I would like to share my story. I did not return to work until this last Monday September 11th. I have 4 children ages 14, 9, 6, and 16 months. The 3 older ones were staying close by with family while we had to send the baby to Conroe for over a week. During that week I worked and worked on the house so I could get it safe and clean enough for the baby and the other kids to come home! I had help from staff and even my students parents cleaning my house! It was truly something I could have never imagined! To see my "parents" sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, dusting, tearing out drywall.... I was in disbelief that it was happening. 3 years ago to the day we flooded we had built our house and moved in! Heartbreaking to see something I was so proud of torn apart!
ReplyDeleteI was so happy when the kids came home last weekend! My wonderful mother in law bought us a new refrigerator and dishwasher so I could make sure we had a place for food for them. We do not have flood insurance because we are not even in the 100 year flood zone (famous last words of many families right now). FEMA denied us too.
When I returned to school this week I was so excited to see my students! I knew their faces would brighten my mood and let me forget about things at home for the day. While it helped, I still couldn't stop thinking or talking about it! I received an envelope in my mailbox Wednesday. Unsure of what I was getting, I opened it immediately, thinking I was getting information about a new student or paperwork from admin for the week of work I missed. When I opened it I could not stop the tears! There I was in the middle of my class, crying! Tears of gratitude and love for those of you that have taken the time and your own money to help! I can't thank you enough!
I want to add that you have not only helped myself and my family but also one of the paras (my best friend) that works in my room. She was my Nanny last year. When she needed a place to stay, we opened up our home to her in March. I teach life skills and was able to get her hired on to work in my room and chose to put my 16 month old back in daycare. She is so amazing! She does still live with me. She lost a few things as well when the house flooded and just came back home last weekend.
I want to say from the bottom of my heart... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I will pay it forward when we are back on our feet! Big hugs to all of you! Thank you Melinda and Merideth for making this possible! ❤️