Giving kids the right tools to go back to school
Published 5:29 pm Friday, October 6, 2017
- Students are given backpacks with school supplies by members with Texas Health Care Plan Friday at Robert Lee Elementary School in Port Arthur.
By Lorenzo Salinas
Kids can’t go back to school without a backpack. Thankfully, volunteers with Texas Children’s Hospital and its HMO, Texas Children’s Health Plan, sought to remedy that Friday at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Port Arthur.
“Volunteers from Texas Children’s Health Plan have come and are giving every student a backpack and lunch bags for all staff members,” Lee assistant principal, Tamela Hebert, said.
Cristina Garcia Gamboa with Texas Children’s Health Plan said it was all part of their mission to improve the lives of young people.
“We provide healthcare and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Plan) for children and pregnant women,” she said.
Gamboa said she and other members wanted to do something for kids post-Harvey and get them ready to go back to school.
“There was a lot of devastation and a lot of people were not ready to engage in the community,” Veronica Arzayus with TCHP said. “So, we wanted to do something to help with that and something that would be good for the kids.”
The organization collected 900 backpacks to give away, each filled with school supplies. Teachers were also given lunch bags filled with educational materials.
“We’re staying true to our mission,” Gamboa said. “It’s part of our job to impact kids’ lives in a positive manner.”
“If we are giving them even one moment of happiness, then we are doing our job,” Arzayus said.
Hebert thanked the people with TCHP for their wonderful support.
“Students and families have been through a lot,” she said. “So we want to thank (TCHP) for keeping us in their thoughts. This means a lot to the students and it means a lot to us.”
Hebert said students were excited to return to school, and that this kind of charitable action helps enable them to do just that.
“We want to make sure parents are not worried about school supplies,” Hebert said, indicating the lines of students with new backpacks and supplies. “So, we’re thankful.”
“We are happy that Texas Children’s Health Plan thought enough of us to come here and donate supplies,” superintendent Mark Porterie said, who also lauded the fact that all backpacks were clear, and therefore followed school code.
“It’s so important that people are kind, and the staff are so appreciative of that.”
