The students of Loyd Star Attendance Center are asking for the public’s help in meeting needs of people caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in their “People helping people” campaign, and Copiah-Lincoln Community College is gathering supplies for its “Help for Houston” drive.

The school project is sponsored by Loyd Star’s Senior Beta Club, Teenage Republicans, Future Business Leaders of America, Agriculture Academy and the Hornet yearbook staff.

Each grade is asking for specific items, which can be dropped off at the high school office on Hwy. 550 by Sept. 11.

“Community members can drop off any donations at the high school office,” said Jeremy Peagler, principal at Loyd Star Elementary. “Any help will be greatly appreciated.”

The items collected for each grade are:

• Kindergarten through fourth grade: canned food items.

• Fifth and sixth grades: socks and slippers.

• Seventh grade: diapers (for young and old).

• Eighth grade: pet items (dog and cat foods).

• Ninth grade: batteries.

• 10th grade: personal hygiene products (soap, toothpaste, deodorant, feminine hygiene products).

• 11th grade: bottled water.

• 12th grade: cleaning supplies.

Donations of cash or gift cards will also be accepted.

Robin Case, Loyd Star High School principal, said parents and community members shouldn’t feel restricted by the grade separations on the list. These are just suggestions to help the students have ownership in the project, and be community-minded to help those in need.

“We really are trying to let this be student-led, student-driven, because we want them to know what it’s like to help others,” said Case.

Cleaning supplies are most in-demand at the moment, said Case, because Gov. Phil Bryant has asked that these be sent Friday to help the muck-out crews who are removing mud from and otherwise cleaning flooded homes and buildings.

Case said agriculture instructor Billy Sumrall has a niece who lives in Houston. She and her family are safe, but their home has fallen victim to the flooding.

“So, there’s a personal connection for us at Loyd Star, too,” Case said. “Billy said he can’t help his niece right now but he can help others. And that’s what we want to do. We just want to be a place that can help.”

Donations for Co-Lin can be dropped off at The Counseling Center in the Henley Building of Wesson’s campus daily from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Donations will be accepted through Sept. 8. Items requested are: toiletry items, diapers and baby wipes, new towels and blankets, new socks and underwear, bottled water, and canned foods with pop tops. Gift cards can also be donated, but not cash.

This drive is sponsored by the college, with staff and Trailblazers — student recruiters — working to sort and organize donations.

“We have a Co-Lin alum who lives in Houston,” said Scarlett Hart, Co-Lin public relations coordinator. “She will be making a trip to our campus next weekend to collect donations and take them back to Houston to a local distribution center.”

More than 50 inches of rain — 51.9 in one location — fell in southeast Texas over the course of Hurricane Harvey. The top-end forecast for rainfall was 50 inches. Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport receives 49.76 inches of rain on average annually.

Twenty-three deaths have been confirmed as a result of Harvey — though the number is expected to rise — and more than 48,700 homes have been affected.