Miami Herald Sunday October 24, 2004
Elementary students collected more than 8,000 books to donate to a grade school in Punta Gorda that was hit by Hurricane Charley.

BY LAURA MORALES
Most of the students at Jack D. Gordon Elementary School in Country Walk hadn't been born when Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But their teachers and parents remember it all too well.
When Beverley West, a 37-year physical education teacher, thinks of the havoc Andrew brought to her life, her eyes fill with tears.
''We found the tin roof of the place peeled back like the top of a sardine can. Everything was soaked,'' she said of a building at Pine Lake Elementary School in Perrine, where she worked at the time. Her house met the same fate.
West and her fellow teachers managed to keep going, thanks to people who donated books, equipment and portable classrooms. On Thursday, she and the other staff and students at Jack D. Gordon showed their solidarity and returned that help.
Thursday marked the end of a two-week drive during which the children collected over 8,000 books to donate to the teachers and students of Deep Creek Elementary in Punta Gorda, which was pounded by Hurricane Charley in August.
''Most of the teachers over there found their class book collections ruined,'' said Beth Davis, a science lab teacher and one of the drive's organizers. ``This was a great way to give back to the community.''
Jack D. Gordon Elementary Principal Ruth A. Alperin was thrilled.
''I'm very proud of how these kids and their parents rose to the occasion to help others in need,'' Alperin said.
Two students from each class at Gordon gathered in the school courtyard, surrounding about 70 cartons of books. The boxes were decorated with pictures by members of Kids 4 Kids, a school-based club that sponsored the drive.
The donated books included titles like Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book, Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer and many from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Each was inscribed with the name of the child who donated it.
The kids held up a banner that said: 'Jack Gordon Elementary Rockin' Readers Donate 8,000 Books to Deep Creek Elementary in Punta Gorda.'' While Davis snapped pictures, the kids grinned and gave a thumbs up to the camera.
The fifth-graders then loaded the boxes into an 18-wheeler provided by Farm Share, a local food recovery organization. Farm Share also donated a case of Boost energy drinks for each Deep Creek student and had the truck driven to Punta Gorda on Friday.
Each teacher there will get about 200 grade-appropriate books to replace their lost libraries, and the students will each receive books they can take home.
''Kids 4 Kids takes part in activities like donating backpacks of books and supplies to kids in migrant camps and writing cards and letters to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq,'' said Dena Vermeulen, a Country Walk resident and PTA mom who has a fifth-grader at Gordon.
''This is important because we get to help all those kids that lost their houses and their schools,'' said 10-year-old Vanessa Aycart.
Ariel Foster, also 10, added:``It's great that they will know who it was that sent them the books.''

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