The following is a press release from the Parkway School District:

Students in the Parkway School District may not have known their counterparts in Joplin, MO, but they recently collected $7,500 to help schools that were devastated by the May 22 tornado. Spurred to action by a statewide “Missouri Kids Helping Missouri Kids” initiative, students’ accomplished their fundraising activities by May 27, the last day of school

A check is being given directly to the Joplin School District to use for the extensive recovery and rebuilding efforts already underway. Seven of their schools experienced some degree of damage, and three—including Joplin High School—were completely destroyed.

“We can only imagine the sense of loss this tragedy has caused in the Joplin school community, and it’s great to see how Parkway students and others around the state are reaching out to help the kids in Joplin,” said Desi Kirchhofer, assistant superintendent of secondary schools.

In addition to cash, students at Parkway West High and Parkway South High each collected a truckload of personal and household items which they delivered to Joplin schools on Memorial Day weekend.