By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
“It was me, T.J. Aulds and Kevin Yackly, we stood on a corner in Texas City and collected school supplies for a family whose house had caught on fire,” said Barbra White. “They had school age children, and we wanted to be sure the children had what they needed for school. That was in 1991,”
This will be Barbra’s 35th year collecting school supplies for the children of Texas City. She does this out of her love for the children of her community and because they need what she does.
“There are 7402 students in Texas City schools and 84 percent of them are economically disadvantaged,” said White. “Without the school supplies that the community gives, they wouldn’t be able to learn,”
Because her work is significant, she is proud to say, “The school district is nice enough to give me an office.”
The supplies she collects will be divided amongst the all the schools and usually each school receives 10 boxes from her efforts.
Separate from her collecting supplies is her effort to participate in Valero’s backpack giveaway which will be held on August 8th at Blocker Middle school gym from 9:00 am to 1:00 am. Barbara reports that students must be registered for a Texas City or La Marque school by August 1st to receive a backpack that will be filled with school supplies.
Barbra White is known in the community for her generous spirit of giving and supporting those in need along with her happy spirit.
She is a member of the Rotary club and has 30 bags of beads in her garage from this year’s Rotary sponsored Mardi Gras parade that was canceled due to weather. She is optimistic that the weather will be better for 2027’s parade day.
More pressing time wise is the Rotary Club’s upcoming Walk to End Alzheimer’s which will be on Saturday October 10.
Barbra will again organize a thanksgiving meal for the community. The dinner will be held at Kukral Hall at Our Lady Of Fatima School, 1604-9th Avenue North, in Texas City, on Thanksgiving Day from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Besides free dinners for dine in only, coats, jackets, winter clothing and blankets will be given away FREE OF CHARGE.
For information on any of the events Barbara is organizing you can reach her at 409-739-2268.
