A Texas elementary school impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 recently received a check for $1,327.89, representing funds raised by elementary students in Great Bend USD 428.
Park Elementary Principal Phil Heeke said the check was sent to La Marque Elementary School in Texas City, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 15. The money was raised during last year’s Great Bend Reading Initiative, where children throughout the district read “The Lemonade War.”
Heeke served as coordinator of the reading initiative, where every elementary student in USD 428 received a copy of “The Lemonade War.” To promote the children’s novel about a brother and sister who run competing lemonade stands, Heeke and Tricia Reiser from USD 428 made a colorful lemonade stand from wood pallets last September. The stand was set up at various locations to remind students to read the book.
It was also a collection point for donations to the Texas school.
Heeke said organizers wanted to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey and chose Texas City because it is similar in size to Great Bend.
“The fundraiser was over right before Christmas,” Heeke said. “We set up the lemonade stand (last week) to take a picture of the check and to make a video to send to the La Marque Elementary.”
The video by the Park Elementary School’s Multi-media and Drone Club shows students selling cups of lemonade and collecting donations at events throughout the fall semester.
It can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/parkelementarytigers/videos/1361177747361450/