Vanderpool Family Brings Houston Furniture Drive to DS
Houston, Texas was recently hit by one of the worst natural disasters to date. In the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Houston was left with $125 billion dollars in damage. There were floodwaters over major interstates and murky water where neighborhoods used to be located. Even in the months after the storms hit, Texans are still struggling to recover from this historic chain of storms. Close to 42,400 people were left homeless and were forced to live in shelters immediately after the storm, and many are still displaced. As the South rebounds, more and more communities around the U.S. are assisting Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico with relief efforts. It is time for the DS community to do our part to help regions affected by Hurricane Harvey.
1,873 miles away from the chaos in Houston, Cailynn Vanderpool '21 was renovating her bedroom in Concord, New Hampshire. Upon finishing, she had refurbished much of her room, leaving several extra pieces of furniture. After looking at the surplus furniture, she wondered what to do with it all. Then she remembered the devastation in Houston. The Vanderpool family quickly realized that they could donate their old furniture to the Houston relief effort, and they could encourage others to do the same. By themselves, they would go on to donate two full bedroom sets. But with the help of their local community, they decided to start a furniture drive, encouraging families from both the Derryfield School and the Tilton School to donate.
Cailynn and her family made plans to rent two 26-foot U-Hauls, the biggest U-Hauls one can rent without a commercial truck driving license. It was going to be a long trip, as it would take them about three days to drive down to Houston. However, they knew that it was for a good cause. But there was still one question— how successful was the furniture drive going to be?
It would be an understatement to say that the furniture drive was successful. The donations were collected in Concord during the first week of October. Almost immediately, people began to show up with several pieces of furniture to contribute. Community members brought shelves, dressers, nightstands, chairs, bedframes, and more. All too soon the two U-Haul trucks became full, but people kept coming with donations. By the end of the drive the Vanderpool family had to turn down donations, as there wasn’t enough space in the trucks. Finally, fewer and fewer people showed up, until the donations ceased altogether. Ideally, three U-Haul trucks would be driven to Houston; however, unable to find a third driver, the Vanderpools were confined to just two trucks. They had no idea that the furniture drive would be such a huge success. Awed, Cailynn reflected, “We got a lot of donations from Derryfield, and they really helped. We also got a lot of donations from Tilton.”
In total, Cailynn and her family spent 45 hours on the road,but it was all worth it. When they reached Texas after multiple days of driving, they saw firsthand the damage the hurricanes wreaked on Houston, which confirmed how they were doing the right thing by donating all of this furniture to those who desperately need it. The donated furniture will go to several families, all of whom are trying to rebuild their lives and their homes after the hurricane. This furniture will help them in their time of need, and it is free. If the furniture was not free, some Houston families would be spending thousands of dollars refurnishing their homes.
When Cailynn was asked if the family had any other plans to donate to other places hard hit by the hurricane, such as Puerto Rico, she responded, “[We’ll] help one place first. If we are able to help one place first and get them to where they are functioning, they can help other places. That’s what we want to do with Texas.” In the future, the Vanderpools not only want to continue to get the Derryfield School involved with other charity events and donations, but they want to encourage others to do so as well. The whole process is a chain reaction. When the Vanderpools first began to ask for furniture donations, they hoped that others would feel inspired to do the same. They not only thought about their community, but thought about what their community can do to help others.