After a local book drive resulted in huge donations and thousands of books, children from Lousiana express their thanks

After Houma, Louisiana, was hit by Hurricane Rita, life for residents significantly changed.  Houses were destroyed, trees were ripped out, and public buildings were ruined. 

After the storm, the beginning of a slow recovery began.  Although students went back to class, a lack of resources was apparent, especially library books.

In spring 2006, KHTS’s Carl Goldman and the Santa Clarita Disaster Coalition spearheaded the idea of having a local book drive to benefit the students affected by Hurricane Rita. 

All the district schools, many SCV families, and big companies including Borders and Camelot Moving Company contributed to the effort, which resulted in almost 100,000 books and $13,500 in donations. 

The next year, in March 2007, the books were shipped off.  Not much later, a flood of thank you letters came back.  Many students sent thank you letters to Borders, which had discounted books used for the drive. 

Border’s Anne Unger said that receiving the letters made everything worth while.  “Seeing the letters come in was one of the most beautiful feelings.  It just made everything worth it.” 

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