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Stepping Stone Foundation heads to Texas to help in aftermath of Hurricane Ike
By TIM HOH
Era Correspondent
JOHNSONBURG - A Johnsonburg man and his charitable organization is lending a helping hand to an area of Texas devastated by Hurricane Ike.
The road down south is not unfamiliar to Blaise Dornisch and his charity organization, the Stepping Stone Foundation. Members of the Foundation made several trips to a hurricane stricken community in Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina a few years ago, delivering items ranging from toys, food, beds and clothing to residents there.
This time, Dornisch will be making the first of many trips to Texas City, Texas, early this week with supplies. Located near Galveston, Texas, Texas City is where the eye of the hurricane hit a few weeks ago.
Dornisch’s foundation was recently contacted by a St. Marys Area High School instructor, who has a niece which lives the area. The Foundation was planning on making a trip to Texas to deliver supplies when their schedule was pushed up.
Andrea Dornisch, Blaise’s wife, and co-founder of the organization, said “We planned on making a trip to Texas, but we got pushed into it, in a nice way a little quicker. They (Texas City) were right by Galveston and they were hit in the eye of the storm.”
She said the niece contacted her aunt in St. Marys and told her about the devastation. It wasn’t long before the Foundation was contacted for help.
“Kindergarten through sixth grade, they completely lost their library, most of the school is not even under a roof,” Andrea Dornisch said. “They needed a lot of help, they lost a lot of stuff. They were actually putting the kids back into school without electricity. No running water, no sewage, but through the help of generators, porta potties and things like that, they are able to get kids back to school.”
The school was going to use whatever was salvageable, or whatever they could get through donations. The Dornischs got the Texas City elementary school principal’s name and contacted them. The Dornischs explained who they were and what they did as a charity organization.
The two sides communicated and the Dornischs learned what was needed ” library books, school supplies and even textbooks were in desperate need. Stepping Stone then quickly went into action, contacting local radio stations to get the word out, along with area newspapers and local schools in Elk County.
“They miraculously pulled it together with us and were able to get us enough stuff to do not just one load but to do two loads,” Andrea Dornisch said, pointing to the back of a loaded truck. “We have received more in this very, very short time frame to do this trip then we have when we’ve given them months notice. That’s how amazing this is. This is all going to be dropped off at the school.
“They have a Salvation Army and some different facilities right there. They will take the items to where they see fit.”
Blaise Dornisch plans on making a second trip back to Texas City by the end of October or the first week in November.
“As long as they still want it ” we know they are going to ” this is all going down to them,” Andrea Dornisch said while pointing to the items not going due to lack of room in the back of the vehicle. “That truck is too filled. Even though it looks like there is a lot of height, there are school books in there. Everything from math to English to spelling to social studies to science and handbooks for the teachers. And we got art supplies, we got playground equipment ... we were kind of able to touch all the bases.”
The Dornischs are still accepting donations as well as financial contributions. The financial donations can be made at any Northwest Savings Bank in Elk County in the Stepping Stone name or can be mailed to their residence at 5902 Ridgway Road, Johnsonburg, PA 15845. They can also be contacted by phone at their residence.
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