Alya Bajwa

Community Outreach at West (COW) gathered a total of 863 items to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma in a matter of four days. Sophomores Danielle Emanuel and Zoe Goff counted donation items. “I am so excited that COW is making a difference in both the charity we are donating the items to and in the school in general,” senior COW president Sarah Verhulst said.

Community Outreach at West (COW) gathered a total of 863 items to help the tornado victims in Moore, Oklahoma in a matter of four days.

COW began collecting donations on Monday Sept. 9 and ended on Thursday Sept. 12.

Items collected included bottled water, nonperishable food, band aids, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, paper towels and paper plates.

One of the sponsors, chemistry teacher Jan Keller, introduced the idea of starting the drive to help the victims of the tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on May 20.

Keller housed all of the donations in her classroom, Other donations were gathered in each grade level office, attendance office, and Publications teacher Debra Klevens’ classroom.

After all the items were collected, Keller rented a truck and drove to Oklahoma, along with other items from another organization she participated in, on Sept. 13.

“This was COW’s first year back off the ground and based on the results of our first charity drive, I would say we are off to a great start,” senior president of COW Sarah Verhulst said.

COW is a student run organization that consists of 36 members. COW students participate in volunteer opportunities that benefit the community. The next meeting will be on Oct. 11 in room 3000. If you are interested in getting involved, email [email protected] with your name, grade and cell phone number.