Mum Money to Rebuild Schools

Homecoming mums in Texas are a longstanding and BIG tradition! But what if we broke with tradition this year and gave the money we would have spent on our high-schooler's mum to our fellow Texans along the Gulf Coast who have lost their cherished belongings - and even their homes - to the most devastating storm in U.S. history? Let's do it! It is so appropriate that we, as North Texans, help our much-loved neighbors in South Texas as they do their best to rebuild. Let's help them have their homecoming!

We are two moms, D'Ann Shippy and Renee Mills, who have students at Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas. We want to help families in South Texas who lost it all! And we want our high-schoolers, who are far-removed from the struggles going on in South Texas, to be a part of the process! D'Ann was born in Houston and reared in Victoria, with family and friends in several cities affected by Harvey. Renee, is a nurse at Children's Hospital in Dallas and a longtime volunteer, spending hours serving meals to residents of Dallas' homeless shelter, Austin Street Center. 

Every penny donated will go to a fund established by Aransas County ISD to rebuild the district's five schools that sustained catastrophic damage when Harvey made landfall.  According to Suzanne Ransleben, executive director for the Aransas County ISD Education Foundation, buildings are missing and the supplies to rebuild are not available. She writes, "Many students, 65% of whom come from economically disadvantaged households, lost their homes. The whole community of Rockport is working to restore power and help refugees, but for this storm, the damage was so immense that, as the saying goes, 'it will take a village.'"