USA Funds Employees Fund School Supplies for Hurricane-Affected Elementary Schools

As members of USA Funds^®’ volunteer committee gathered donations from its annual school-supplies fund-raiser held last August, they knew immediately that this school year would be different. Typically, at a luncheon event, the staff of about 60 at USA Funds’ corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, raises money for school supplies for elementary schools in USA Funds’ designated states and in the communities in which USA Funds has offices.

“We knew we wanted to do something to help the schools affected by Hurricane Katrina,” says Stacey Moore, USA Funds business manager and coordinator of the company’s volunteer committee. “We quickly planned two additional fund-raising events so we could donate more supplies. In the past we have raised as much as $500. In the months after the hurricane, we were able to donate $3,366, with the company’s 2:1 match, to schools in New Orleans and Mississippi.”

In January USA Funds gave a $1,222 check for school supplies to each of three schools: Sacred Heart Elementary in D’Iberville, Miss.; Poplarville Lower Elementary in Poplarville, Miss.; and Benjamin Franklin Elementary in New Orleans.

According to Vicky Keller, USA Funds customer-relations manager for Mississippi and Florida, Sacred Heart was in desperate need of financial support, as every part of the small, private school was affected. “They lost desks, chairs, computers, printers, books, school supplies — everything,” says Keller. ”They were so appreciative of our efforts to help them get back on track and to help their students continue in their schoolwork.”

Because the school was severely damaged by flood water, Sacred Heart still is operating out of a nearby church.

Dan Hurt, USA Funds senior financial analyst, suggested that the volunteer committee send funds to Poplarville Lower Elementary after hearing about the school’s needs through his church. Many of the town’s residents lost their homes and their jobs following Hurricane Katrina. Because Poplarville-area schools were preparing for an influx of displaced students from New Orleans, the school supplies met an immediate need.

Teresa Spruill, USA Funds customer-relations manager for Louisiana, recommended that USA Funds donate a portion of the funds to Benjamin Franklin. She visited the school, located in the Uptown area of New Orleans, after it reopened Nov. 28, 2005. “Everyone there was just so gracious and appreciative,” says Spruill. “The children especially were excited to return to school after their three-month-long break.”

“I was so proud to represent USA Funds in bringing Benjamin Franklin Elementary this donation,” Spruill says. “USA Funds has truly made an impact in helping these elementary schools and their students.”

The school-supply fund-raisers are among a number of hurricane-relief efforts undertaken by USA Funds’ employees. Additional information about employees’ efforts — which ranged from repairing homes to loading bottled water for shipping to New Orleans — is in the winter-2006 edition of the “USA Funds Education Partnerships newsletter”.

In 2005 USA Funds employees donated more than 1,150 volunteer hours and $30,150 to various organizations and philanthropic initiatives.