Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Kade Polidori and Andrew Steeg dedicate 9-year-old birthday party to Harvey relief

When Kade Polidori and Andrew Steeg were planning their joint ninth birthday party with their moms, someone threw out the idea of party gifts benefiting Spring Branch ISD students who are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey. They jumped at the chance.

The boys, third graders at Hunters Creek Elementary School, collected about $500 in gift cards at their early-September party. They delivered the cards to Cece Thompson, executive director of Spring Branch Education Foundation (SBEF). Last year, SBEF raised $1,045,932 to benefit SBISD faculty and student families who were displaced by Hurricane Harvey.

“There aren’t enough words to describe their generosity. Kade and Andrew are extraordinary young men,” Thompson says. “We will share the cards with Communities In Schools Houston, which partnered with us in the Harvey Relief Fund. CIS will donate the gifts to families who need help with food, clothing or school supplies. The cards will make a huge difference in a student’s life.”

Kade’s mother, Amy Polidori, will never forget the kindness of friends who helped when their home flooded during Hurricane Harvey. On top of gutting their home, doing laundry and donating cleaning supplies, they managed to put together a birthday party for Kade. One mom provided a cake, another balloons, another party favors, another a venue. Kade’s celebration was an act of community love pure and simple.

She says, “The gift cards are a way we can give back to a community that gave us so much during a very difficult time. SBEF did amazing things for those affected, and I knew it would be the perfect group to find families still in need as a result of Harvey.”
 

About Spring Branch Education Foundation:

Spring Branch Education Foundation is committed to supporting SBISD students and educators. It partners with the district and community to fund programs that enhance education and ̅students for the future. In 2016, Caruthers Institute ranked SBEF 42^nd in the nation among 188 K-12 education foundations and in the top 10 of its division of foundations with $1 million to $1,999,999 in revenues. Since 1993, the Foundation has donated more than $13 million to the district. SBEF is a 501(c)3 organization; all donations are tax deductible.