Perry County teens host teacher shower for educators impacted by flood
HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - For Perry County teens Samantha Turner and Kyli Short, helping their local teachers following July’s flood was a no-brainer.
“They gave to us our whole lives, so we just wanted to try to give back to them,” said Turner.
Sixteen-year-old Short has special ties to Robinson Elementary.
“My mom’s a teacher, so I grew up there and seeing her classroom in pieces kind of broke me. I think it did everybody,” said Short.
That’s when Short and Turner created an Amazon wish list to help the educators of Buckhorn School and Robinson Elementary get back on their feet.
“We had a little over probably $4,000, but we had just a lot of monetary donations too, and we kind of went together and just went on a shopping spree and took care of what we had left, and we were able to spend everything but nine cents, so we got it as close as we could,” said Turner.
And on Sunday, the pair hosted a teacher shower at the Perry County Park for educators to come and pick up what they need for their classroom.
“Without teachers, there’s no one,” said Turner. “So, they started everyone and now I think it’s just good to not only see she and I giving back but everyone, you know. This wasn’t just two of us, it was our whole community. They all went together and allowed us to do it. We were just the faces of it.”
And for educators like Kristie Combs who lost everything, seeing the community help them to rebuild means so much more.
“I’ve seen people come together here that I never thought ever would and that’s the goal here,” said Combs. “I think this area is going to be just fine. It’s gonna take a little while to get back to where we were, but we’re gonna get there.”
Turner and Short are still accepting donations for the educators of Buckhorn School and Robinson Elementary. Any donations received will be taken to A.B. Combs Elementary.
You can reach out to Short or Turner via Facebook to learn how you can donate.
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