The images of the damage left by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in August 2005 left a mark on the mind of Lori Fiebelkorn.

The news that 450 children from New Orleans were headed to Hattiesburg, Miss., made an even bigger impression.

“These kids were coming with nothing,” said Fiebelkorn, 48. “Everybody was horrified by what happened down there.”

Fiebelkorn, the membership manager at the Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and her co-workers decided to do something about it. Originally, the bureau wanted to send money to their counterpart in Hattiesburg. However, they later decided to collect school supplies for the displaced children.

Enlisting the help of students at Mann, Wickham and Kirkwood elementaries and Northwest and South East junior highs, pencils, scissors, notebooks and other supplies were collected throughout September.

“I was blown away by the response,” Fiebelkorn said. “People just went crazy. We had six 4-foot high wardrobe boxes just packed full of stuff.”

Much of Fiebelkorn’s time was spent on the project. Along with collecting the donated supplies, she also coordinated how to deliver them to the children in Mississippi. She met with Deb Dunkhase, executive director of The Iowa Children’s Museum, who referred her to a trucking company based in Ottumwa.

“It was a huge effort on everybody’s part,” Fiebelkorn said. “We got the resources and we were lucky.”

The recipients of the school supplies in Hattiesburg were happy to receive them, and Fiebelkorn said it made the project that much more worthwhile.

“They were thrilled to have everything,” she said. “It’s all been good.”

— Rob Daniel

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