With more than 300 cartons of books and school supplies collected, Katy ISD, the Katy Rotary Club and the Amobi Okoye Foundation celebrated the conclusion of its “Books Abroad” campaign yesterday afternoon at the Merrell Center.
OKOYE SAYS THANKS – During Tuesday ceremonies in the Merrell Center, Houston Texans defensive lineman Amobi Okoye thanks everyone who took part in the “Books Abroad” project to collect books and school supplies for schools in his native Nri, Nigeria.
The educational supplies will be sent to 10 schools in Nri, Nigeria, the home of Houston Texans defensive lineman Amobi Okoye.
Katy ISD Superintendent Alton Frailey praised the work of all who were involved in the campaign.
“This is a great example of a grassroots effort,” Frailey said.
Rotary President Craig Harrison said the 300 cartons included more than 50,000 books. He said the project began at a Rotary meeting when a representative from the Amobi Okoye Foundation told the club it had a library in Nigeria with no books.
“Mr. Frailey said he had books with no library,” Harrison said. “This was a natural fit for what our Rotary Club does.”
Okoye thanked the community for its help and said he would be personally delivering the materials to Nigeria.
“I’m very, very happy and pleased looking at all these books,” Okoye said. “I’m looking forward to going and personally putting these books on the shelves of the libraries, schools and wherever they go.”
Katy ISD Director of Communications Kris Taylor said additional cartons of books and supplies were still being filled even as the ceremony was taking place. Tomorrow, all the cartons will be loaded onto pallets for shipment.
The materials will be shipped from the Port of Houston in January. After clearing Nigerian customs, they will be shipped to Nri’s two high schools, three middle schools and five elementaries, benefiting the area’s 5,000 students.
The books and educational supplies will be distributed in March. In addition to Okoye and representatives from Rotary International, Frailey also hopes to be on hand to present the materials.
In Nigeria, schools do not provide instructional materials in the way American schools do, so students and teachers typically have only what they can purchase on their own. The books and supplies donated through “Books Abroad” are intended to help provide educational materials that schools would otherwise not be able to afford.
