MDOC donates school supplies for Harvey relief

JACKSON, MS (WLOX) - A Jackson couple delivered school supplies to students affected by Hurricane Harvey.

"People helped us when Hurricane Katrina hit," said probation and parole agent Barbara B. Gill, who was accompanied by her husband, Steven Gill, on the trip. "We appreciate this opportunity to give back. This was a group effort of the MDOC employees."

The two represented the Mississippi Department of Corrections as they presented the supplies to two third-grade classrooms in Houston, Texas.

The items had been collected since September through the Gulfport and Biloxi Probation and Parole offices. Students received book bags, crayons, notebooks and other useful learning tools.

Donors include MDOC employees, offenders being supervised on house arrests, probation and parole, Food Giant, Academy Sports, and local attorney George Blair.

Barbara Gill said the idea to donate to the classrooms came from a Facebook post about Adopt a Classroom.org, a website of a nonprofit organization that helps teachers in need of classroom supplies.

The Gills met a liaison at World Harvest Outreach Seventh-day Adventist Church, the designated distribution center for Houston and surrounding areas, before heading to Carter G. Woodson Elementary and Alcott Elementary School.

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