Hurricane Harvey swept through Gulf of Mexico leaving up to 30,000 people seeking refuge in shelters, setting a spark for the students and teachers of Plano to unite under one goal to collect supplies for the city of Houston.

     “As a resident of Dallas, I was made aware of the influx of Houston refugees in the DFW area. Without a home, these refugees are in dire need of supplies,” said AP art history teacher, Tiffany Thurman.

    Different organizations in Plano Senior High have been brainstorming and developing ideas to collect supplies to give to the population of Houston. Recently a drive for supplies has been started by the student congress.

    Co-chairmen of the community service committee in student congress, juniors Parker Stiles and Ethan Pappas, came up with the idea to start the drive.

    “We wanted to do a homeless pack drive, but once Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, we decided to turn it into a drive for the Houston area,” Stiles said.

    It is not difficult to find items to donate since the supplies that Stiles and Pappas have requested are abundant in everyday lives and are very inexpensive.

    ”We are looking for hygienic supplies such as; feminine hygiene products, soap, shampoo and combs,” Pappas said.

    Students can donate these supplies at the box in the cafeteria, English classrooms, or in the student congress room, B256.

    “We want the whole student population to get together to donate supplies so we can help Houston,” Stiles said.

    Aside from the student congress, Thurman has created a drive for school supplies for the Houston refugees.

    “I figured as teachers we are in a unique position to getting school supplies, since we know what they need already,” Thurman said.

    Supplies as simple as pencils, pens and items bought at the beginning of the school year is all that is needed.

    Donations can be dropped off at her classroom, as Thurman is actively dropping off the donations to be sent to the refugees.

    “I have already made one run of donations, and I am about to drop off a second box,” Thurman said.

    Students can also help to spread awareness about the events in Houston through means such as social media to help the student congress and Thurman achieve their goal.