Nelson Gillum, 15, a junior at South Lakes High School, hasn’t forgotten the people in the Gulf Coast whose homes and livelihoods were washed away by Hurricane Katrina.
For the past three weeks, Gillum helped organize a clothing drive at South Lakes High School. With the help of students in the leadership class, Gillum energized students and their families to give.
“Because people lost everything, we wanted to give back something that everybody could give,” said Gillum. He said that the response from students has been “amazing.”
Over the weekend, more than 120 bags of clothes and a few boxes of shoes were delivered to drop-off sites for charities, like the Red Cross, who are helping victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Lindsay Trout, who teaches the leadership class, was also surprised at the level of giving. “I had no idea it was going to be this big,” she said, standing in a large room filled with multiple piles of bags. “This has just been unbelievable.”
Now that the clothing drive has ended, Gillum and others in the leadership class have shifted their focus to a Hurricane Katrina relief fund-raiser.
“We’ve been collecting money at football games and during school lunches,” said Gillum.