BEDFORD, Va. – People in Texas are still trying to clean up after Hurricane Harvey and several organizations are providing relief. Even a local high school is helping fellow students thousands of miles away.
Liberty High School shared pictures with WSLS showing us what's left of Ingleside High School in Texas after Hurricane Harvey ripped through the hallways.
“In the end they're teenagers like the rest of us. It's just nice to know that we can help out each other,” Juan Salgado, the president of the Key Club, said.
Ingleside High School is one of the many schools in Texas which will have to repair parts of their building, but Liberty High in Bedford want those students to know they've got help.
"When she brought up the idea of adopting a high school we were like, 'wow, this is a great opportunity' cause we can relate to them. They're not in our same situation but before they definitely were,” Emily Neel, the treasurer of the Key Club, said.
The idea came from Liberty High's basketball coach. Faculty and students put their heads together to begin raising money and taking donations.
“That's when I reached out to the principal and asked in particular what she needed and at that time she said, "I don't know what we need'” Kathleen Dills, principal at Liberty High School, said.
Starting Friday night, Sept. 8, at their football game, for one minute students will run through the stands and collect as much money as they can to send their first set of donations.
"We're adopting this school for, at least now the plans are for one year. It may be longer than that depending on what their needs are,” Dills said.
From now until Sept. 20 Valley View Mall in Roanoke and Liberty Landscaping in Bedford will help students collect new clothes and shoes. And through the hashtag “Minutemen Loves Mustangs,” these students want the world to know they care.
"This is a natural event so obviously they don't happen too, too often but when they do we want to make sure that people know that there's somebody there to help take care of them, to help bring them back on their feet and they're not alone,” Neel said.
Cash and checks will be accepted through Oct. 15, 2017.