WEST CHILLISQUAQUE TOWNSHIP -- It's hard to forget the images of Hurricane Harvey and the damage it caused. Many people in Texas are still rebuilding their lives. And that's where Gretchen Powell and her sixth grade class come in. She and her students from Midd-West Middle School in Middleburg decided they wanted to help.
"I was on a website, teacher pay teacher and they had adopt a classroom. I said what do you want to do? They said let's do it," Powell said.
The program connected the sixth graders with a school near Houston. And within a few weeks, the students had collected 584 pounds of school supplies.
"Paper, pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, you name it, it's in these pink boxes heading to Texas," Powell said.
But, there was a problem. Getting it there.
"Our largest box at 64.5 pounds was going to cost us $80," Powell said.
Powell put out a call for help on Facebook. The request was seen by the Central PA Chamber of Commerce, who connected her with Watsontown Trucking.
"We all feel very good about that we can help someone that's in need," Steve Patton said.
Steve Patton owns Watsontown Trucking Company near Milton. His company had already taken several truckloads of supplies to Texas this year. The students from Snyder County offered him $86 to ship their items.
"I said I would rather just have them donate the $86 to the people in Houston and I would do it for free," Patton said.
Patton's crew will take the boxes to La Marque, Texas next week.
"I think the real credit goes to the kids who did this. They packaged it up nice and it's really a nice thing that they did," Patton said.
"It means a lot to me and it means the world to my kids. We are very grateful, forever grateful," Powell said.
The boxes are going to La Marque Middle School, which is near Houston.