‘Jeans Day’ Revenue, Big Read Donations Will Go Toward Texas Recovery

With a theme of “From one community to another,” Toms River Regional Schools has enacted plans to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey, the storm that has ravaged Southeast Texas and the surrounding areas.

The district will host Jeans Day Friday, September 15. School staff and district administrators will, with a $5 donation, receive a one-day reprieve from business attire, with all proceeds going to the United Way of Greater Houston’s Relief Fund.

In October, the district will begin its month-long NEA Big Read literacy program, which is centered around the post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven. The team leading the program is connecting the book to Superstorm Sandy as a means of reflection five years after the storm, and had plans to utilize the program’s events to solicit donations to Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group. It will modify its plans to also include charitable donations to Southeast Texas in the wake of Harvey.

In addition to this outreach, the district has collaborated with Toms River Police Department and People’s Pantry to establish Toms River for Texas, which will enable community members to donate items of need to Texas. A flyer with more details is featured on the sidebar to this article.

The school district, Toms River, and Ocean County are approaching five years since Superstorm Sandy made its way to Northeastern shores in late October of 2012. The hurricane damaged homes, businesses, roads, and facilities, and its physical, financial, and emotional effects are still being felt today. The $2.2 billion in tax ratable losses endured by Toms River represented half of the impact on the entire state.

“Toms River residents who experienced the devastation of Sandy know all too well what folks in Texas are experiencing,” said Superintendent David Healy. “For all of its destruction and havoc, Sandy proved that no one responds better in crisis than the Toms River community, and we feel it’s our duty to join together and support our friends in Texas who are having their lives turned upside down by Hurricane Harvey.”

For more information about or to donate to the United Way of Greater Houston’s Relief Fund, visit their website at https://www.unitedwayhouston.org/flood/flood-donation/.

For more information about NEA Big Read, visit http://www.trschools.com/community/bigread.