District, community support hurricane victims in Cleveland, Texas

Bari Cohn

Executive News Editor

The Manhattan Beach Unified School District and the City of Manhattan Beach held a joint meeting on Sept. 19, in order to celebrate the efforts made by those who donated and supported the ACT campaign,  in which community members donated goods for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Harvey dissipated from the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 3 and affected the Southern United states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. MBUSD collected items on Sept. 5-6, in order to donate to Cleveland, Texas. Each of the seven schools in the district donated different items, which were then driven to the city.

“It is amazing to see how members of our community are able to rally together, in order to help others in need,” senior PJ Sundeen said. “The district and residents saw another community who desperately needed help, and it is a great feeling to be a part of such an impactful effort.”

The MBX Foundation, an organization that provides financial support for physical education and athletic programs in the MBUSD, collected over $50,000 in donations, and local business, such as Skechers, donated items in order to help the hurricane victims, whose items were lost or damaged. In addition to collecting items at each of the seven schools, Manhattan Beach City Hall was available as a drop-off location for any donations.

“We were able to help an estimated 1500-2000 hurricane victims in the city of Cleveland, Texas,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “This was not an idea I could’ve ever come up with by myself, and although I knew I wanted to do something to help, the extent of these relief efforts would not have been possible without the entire Manhattan Beach community.”

After all of the items were collected, 16 drivers, including Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale and Manhattan Beach City Councilman Richard Montgomery, drove seven 26-foot Uhaul trucks over 30 hours straight, totaling approximately 2,000 miles, in order to distribute the items to victims of the hurricane.

The City of Cleveland honored the city of Manhattan Beach by proclaiming Sept. 9, 2017 as “Manhattan Beach, California Day.” In addition to the donated goods, students of all seven schools within the district wrote letters of encouragement for hurricane victims.

“I think that overall the donations and the turnout of everyone helping was really awesome,” Associated Student Body Vice Principal and senior Keeli  Hartley said. “It was truly something to be proud of, especially since the community was able to organize all of this in less than a week.”