HOUSTON, TX Employees of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.'s Texas Region recently delivered donated supplies to Mitchell Elementary in Houston, Texas, a school severely damaged by Hurricane Harvey.  Employees collected more than 2,000 books, 26 reading chairs and rugs for classrooms and constructed 26 bookshelves and storage cubes with storage baskets during McCarthy's annual Fall Seminar held in Dallas, Texas. When the delivery truck arrived at the school in Houston, the teachers were thrilled to receive the donations and stayed after to help setup the classrooms for the students.  

The school held a Meet the Teacher night, the Friday before Hurricane Harvey hit. Classrooms and desks were already setup and stocked for school to begin the following Monday. Unfortunately, over the weekend, Mitchell Elementary suffered some of the worst damage in the district with classrooms destroyed due to waist-high flood water.  Mitchell was closed but classes are being held in the Old Rhoads Campus, located at 4103 Brisbane Street in Houston. This school was previously closed down but reopened to accommodate those from Mitchell Elementary.

"The assistance provided by McCarthy helped to transform our classrooms into the true literacy environments we had established before Harvey," said Mitchell Elementary Principal, Elizabeth Castillo. "The furniture and books created the welcoming spaces that we needed to foster the love of reading on our campus. Our students and teachers are eternally grateful."

The building projects and donation drive was made possible by McCarthy's "Heart Hats" program, an initiative dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees' volunteer efforts in a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where employees work, live and play.